Canberra says a Chinese fighter jet released flares in front of an Australian surveillance plane.

Australia’s defence ministry said it “expressed concerns” to its Chinese counterparts over the “unsafe and unprofessional interaction”.

No one was injured and there was no damage to Australia’s P-8A surveillance jet after Tuesday’s incident, the ministry said.

But China said the Australian aircraft “intentionally intruded” into its airspace and that the Chinese fighter jet responded in a “legitimate, lawful, professional, and restrained” manner.

This is the latest in a string of encounters between the two countries’ militaries in the region, where China’s vast claims over islands and outcrops overlap with those of its neighbours.

…

In May last year, Australia accused a Chinese fighter plane of dropping flares close to an Australian navy helicopter that was part of a UN Security Council mission on the Yellow Sea.

In November 2023, Canberra accused Beijing’s navy of using sonar pulses in international waters off Japan, resulting in Australian divers suffering injuries.

In a separate statement on Thursday, Canberra said it was monitoring three Chinese navy vessels operating to the north-east of Australia.

These vessels had travelled through South East Asia before entering Australia’s maritime approaches, with one of the vessels transiting into waters in the country’s north, the defence department said.

“Australia respects the rights of all states to exercise freedom of navigation and overflight in accordance with international law, just as we expect others to respect Australia’s right to do the same,” it said.

  • eureka@aussie.zoneEnglish
    0·
    13 days ago

    I couldn’t see an Australian source saying where in the sea this occured. China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs claims this happened on the Paracel Islands:

    “The Australian military airplane deliberately intruded into China’s airspace over Xisha Qundao (Paracel Islands) without China’s permission. Such move violated China’s sovereignty and undermined China’s national security,” said Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Guo Jiakun, according to a transcript.

    “China has lodged serious protests with Australia and urged it to stop infringing on China’s sovereignty and making provocations and stop disrupting peace and stability in the South China Sea.”

    Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paracel_Islands

    The ownership of the islands remains hotly contested. The People’s Republic of China (PRC) on mainland China, Vietnam, and the Republic of China (ROC) on Taiwan all claim de jure sovereignty, although the PRC has had de facto control of the archipelago since the Battle of the Paracel Islands in January 1974. In July 2012, China (PRC) established Sansha, Hainan Province, as administering the area. In February 2017, the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative reported 20 outposts of the PRC built on reclaimed land in the Paracels, three of which contain small harbours capable of berthing naval and commercial ships.

    Looking at where Australia is on a map, and that we had a surveillance jet flying near their (claimed, and effectively owned for over 50 years) territory, I understand why they’re telling our military to fuck off. Imagine if China started flying jets around the Timor Gap, I reckon we’d tell them the same.

    • zero_gravitas@aussie.zoneEnglish
      01·
      13 days ago

      Yet another case of China aggressively placing its territory near American military assets. They must be stopped 😡😡😡

      • x4740N@lemm.eeEnglish
        1·
        6 hours ago

        I’m going to immediately downvote and disregard anyone who sources from sky news including you as they are known for right-wing news media bias