Chinese diplomat’s false claim on sonar blast

One of Beijing’s top diplomats has called for Australian naval vessels to operate with ‘greater prudence’ in waters near China.

Chinese Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs Liu Jianchao. Picture: AAP Image

One of Beijing’s top diplomats has called for Australian naval vessels to operate with “great prudence” in waters near China after a PLA Navy ship blasted Australian navy divers with its sonar in Japan’s exclusive economic zone.

The head of the Chinese Communist Party’s International Department, Liu Jianchao, claimed incorrectly on Tuesday that the November 14 sonar incident occurred in waters where there is “some kind of dispute between China and Japan”.

The claim came ahead of Mr Liu’s scheduled meeting with Foreign Minister Penny Wong on Wednesday, and follows Anthony Albanese’s refusal to say whether he raised the incident with Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC conference.

“My question would be, why should an Australian naval ship be travelling to that area?” Mr Liu told an Australia-China Relations Institute event.

“China will have to do what it needs to do. But China did it in a very professional way. It did nothing that harms the sailors, the naval people or that ship.”

His comments came as Australia’s Chief of Navy Mark Hammond said he was unable to speak to his Chinese counterpart to protest the Chinese warship’s behaviour because the two navies have no official relationship.

The Prime Minister has refused to say whether he raised the November 14 incident with Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the APEC summit, but said Australia’s concerns were communicated “through all appropriate channels and with every opportunity that was available to us”.

Vice Admiral Hammond said on Tuesday that those “channels” did not include a phone call to PLA-N commander Dong Jun.

“It was unsafe. It was unprofessional,” he said of the sonar incident that injured Australian divers.

“(But) we don’t have a direct relationship between our Navy and the PLA Navy. This is an issue for government. I’m very comfortable with the way the government has dealt with it.”

HMAS Toowoomba fires an Evolved Sea Sparrow missile during Exercise RIMPAC 2018. Picture: Defence

Vice Admiral Hammond’s inability to raise the matter with his counterpart came despite the Prime Minister’s repeated calls for more open dialogue with China to prevent military mishaps from escalating into conflict.

It’s understood the government lodged a protest over the incident through the Australian embassy in Beijing.

China’s Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian earlier dismissed the sonar incident as “completely untrue” and urged the Australian side to “respect the facts, stop making reckless and irresponsible accusations”.

Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy told the National Press Club on Tuesday that conflict was “far from inevitable”, but Australia’s assumed 10-year warning time ahead of a major attack “has evaporated - just as it had in the mid-1930s”.

“The lesson from that era is that we cannot afford to be under-invested in defence,” he said.