Melbourne: Australia protested Thursday what it described as an unsafe and unprofessional interaction over the South China Sea where a Chinese fighter is accused of releasing flares that endangered an Australian military surveillance plane.
A Chinese J-16 fighter released flares Tuesday that passed within 30 meters (100 feet) of a P-8 Poseidon surveillance jet in daylight and international air space, Defense Minister Richard Marles said Thursday.
The Australian plane usually carries eight or nine crew. The plane was not damaged and no crew member was injured, Marles said.
“The J-16 was so close that there’s no way you could have been able to ensure that the flares did not hit the P-8,” Marles told Sky News.
“Had any of those flares hit the P-8, that would have had the potential for significant damage to that aircraft,” he added.
China’s foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun in turn accused the Australian military aircraft of “deliberately” intruding into airspace over the disputed Paracel Islands, which China claims.
“China’s measures to drive away the aircraft were legitimate, lawful, professional and restrained,” Guo said.
Australia has protested in its capital Canberra and Beijing Wednesday and Thursday, Marles said.
The protest accused the two Chinese pilots of an “unsafe and unprofessional manoeuvre that posed a risk to the aircraft and personnel,” a statement said.
The protest highlights that while bilateral diplomatic and trade relations have improved, relations between the two militaries remain dangerous.
The interaction is the first significant clash between Chinese and Australian forces that Australia has disclosed in nine months.
Australia accused the pilot of a Chinese J-10 fighter of unsafe and unprofessional behaviour over the Yellow Sea in May last year by dropping flares in the path of an Australian Navy Seahawk helicopter.
Australia said the helicopter pilot had to take evasive action to avoid the flares.
There were no injuries or damage, although experts warned the helicopter could have been forced to ditch at sea if a flare had struck an engine.
China protested at the time that the helicopter had flown close to Chinese airspace and had attempted to carry out reconnaissance on a Chinese navy training exercise.
AP
