Australia calls in navy, air force assets as three Chinese warships lurk north east of Queensland

Authorities have sent navy and air force assets to the area with the threat coming just days after a Beijing fighter jet dropped flares on an Australian military plane.

Australia is shadowing three Chinese warships lurking north east of Queensland just days after an “unsafe” encounter in the South China Sea where a Beijing fighter jet dropped flares on an Australian military plane.

The Australian Defence Force (ADF) has moved navy and air force assets to monitor two People’s Liberation Army-navy frigates and a replenishment vessel navigating in Australia’s exclusive economic zone in the Coral Sea on Thursday.

The federal government has also complained to Beijing about an incident in the South China Sea on Tuesday when a Chinese jet released flares within just 30 metres of an Australian surveillance plan.

No injuries were sustained by personnel on the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P-8A Poseidon, but Defence Minister Richard Marles said complaints had been registered with Chinese officials both in Canberra and Beijing.

AFP has sent navy and air force assets to monitor the warships. Picture: AFP

Mr Marles said there was “no way” the Chinese fighter jet could have ensured the flares did not hit the Australian plane given how close they were.

“Now, as it turned out, they didn’t, but had any of those flares hit the P-8, that would have definitely had the potential for significant damage to that aircraft,” Mr Marles told Sky News.

“And so as a result, that is an action that we’ve declared as being unsafe.”

Mr Marles said he did not believe there was a direct connection between the flares incident and the Chinese ships sailing off the Australian coast, but insisted Australia was “responding in a serious way” to the warships’ presence.

“I’ve ordered a deployment of both navy and air force assets to make sure that we are shadowing this to have a clear understanding of what’s going on,” Mr Marles said.

“So HMAS Arunta right now, which is an ANZAC class frigate, is shadowing the Chinese navy frigate and we’ll continue to monitor their activities, which is very much within our rights … to understand what this task group is doing.”

The Chinese ships are not breaking international law.

Defence Minister Richard Marles says Australia has demanded answers after a Chinese fighter jet dropped flares onto an Australian military plane. Picture: NewsWire / Martin Ollman

ADF said the vessels had “travelled through Southeast Asia, before entering Australia’s maritime approaches,” and one of the frigates had “transited the waters to Australia’s north”.

“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,” the ADF said.

“Defence will continue to monitor the activities of the task group in Australia’s maritime approaches with a combination of capabilities, including air and maritime assets.”

Coalition defence spokesman Andrew Hastie said the flares incident was “deeply troubling”.

“These actions are not only dangerous and reckless, but they put the lives of our Australian Defence Force personnel – who were thankfully not injured during this incident – at risk,” he said.

Mr Hastie questioned why it had taken two days for the encounter to be publicly reported, accusing Labor of failing to “show strength and stand up to their Chinese counterparts”.

Originally published as Australia calls in navy, air force assets as three Chinese warships lurk north east of Queensland