Australia has protested what it describes 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 fet released flares on Tuesday that passed within 30m of a P-8 Poseidon surveillance jet in daylight and international air space, Australian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Defense Richard Marles said on Thursday.
The Australian plane usually carries eight or nine crew. The plane was not damaged and no crew member was injured, Marles said.
Photo: AP
“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 Australia.
“Had any of those flares hit the P-8, that would have definitely had the potential for significant damage to that aircraft,” he added.
Australia has protested in its capital, Canberra, and Beijing on Wednesday and yesterday, Marles said.
The protests accused the two Chinese pilots of an “unsafe and unprofessional maneuver that posed a risk to the aircraft and personnel,” a statement said.
The Chinese embassy in Australia did not immediately response to a request for comment yesterday.
The protests highlight 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 behavior 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.
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