Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has condemned an incident in which a Chinese fighter jet dropped flares in front of an Australian Navy helicopter as “unprofessional” and “unacceptable”.
Mr Albanese said the Federal Government had made “appropriate diplomatic representations” to Beijing to express its outrage.
China is yet to publicly respond to the incident — but Mr Albanese expects it is only a matter of time.
The Nightly has contacted China’s embassy in Canberra for comment.
The incident occurred on Saturday in international waters in the Yellow Sea where Australia’s HMAS Hobart was taking part in Operation Argos — part of an ongoing global effort to enforce United Nations sanctions against North Korea.
A Royal Australian Navy MH-60R helicopter launched from HMAS Hobart, but was intercepted by a PLA-AF fighter aircraft that released flares along its flight path — posing a danger to the helicopter and crew onboard.
No injuries occurred and there was no damage to the helicopter.
![Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese meets with China’s President Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Monday, November 6, 2023. Anthony Albanese will hold talks in China with President Xi Jinping in the first visit to the Asian nation by a sitting prime minister since 2016. (AAP Image/Lukas Coch) NO ARCHIVING](https://timesofsydney.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/0acc860fe1eeb157d5b3ff4ee98d961050f44c47.jpg)
“You have Australian Defence Force personnel engaged in work importantly for the international community,” Mr Albanese told the Today Show.
“They’re in international waters, international airspace, and they’re doing work to ensure that the sanctions that the world has imposed through the United Nations on North Korea, due to their intransient and reckless behaviour, are enforced.
“And that is the work that Australian Defence Force personnel were engaged in. And they shouldn’t have been at any risk while they engaged in that behaviour.”
It is the latest incident involving Chinese forces to endanger Australian soldiers after three divers were injured in November after a People Liberation Army-Navy vessel used a sonar blast.
Mr Albanese was criticised in the aftermath of that incident amid doubts as to whether he personally confronted President Xi Jinping about it.
Speaking about the latest incident on Tuesday, Mr Albanese said China would be “very aware of what our views are”.
Mr Albanese confirmed that President Xi wasn’t planning to visit Australia this year.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton said Mr Albanese must call President Xi directly to express Australia’s position on China’s latest act of aggression.
“At some stage, there’s going to be a miscalculation and an Australian Defence Force member is going to lose their life,” he told The Today Show.
“That is a tragic circumstance that has to be avoided at all costs. But, there will be a miscalculation by somebody who’s flying that jet or somebody who’s on the deck of a Chinese naval ship.”