Beijing claims RAAF plane ‘flew’ too close to laser ship

China’s foreign ministry has claimed Australia has lied about PLA Navy’s targeting of an RAAF surveillance plane with a laser rangefinder.

A People’s Liberation Army-Navy Luyang-class guided missile destroyer which was involved in a lasing incident with an RAAF P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft. Picture: AFP

Defence has refuted Chinese claims an RAAF surveillance aircraft was flying too close to its warships when it was targeted with a military-grade laser, revealing it was more than 7km from the vessels at the time.

In a rare disclosure of operational details, Defence told The Australian that the RAAF P-8A Poseidon was “approximately 7700m” from the People’s Liberation Army’s Navy vessel operating the laser, flying at an altitude of 457m. It said the closest the P-8 flew to the PLA-N vessel was about 3900m.

“This is a standard flight profile for Royal Australian Air Force maritime patrol aircraft for a visual inspection of a surface vessel,” Defence said in a statement.

Beijing on Monday evening denied its ships acted inappropriately in the Arafura Sea last week, when the P-8A Poseidon was hit by the laser as it monitored two Chinese navy ships in Australia’s exclusive economic zone.

“We urge the Australian side to … stop maliciously spreading false information related to China,” said China’s foreign ministry spokesman, Wang Wenbin.

Mr Wang said the Chinese ships had followed “relevant international law and inter­national practice, and [were] completely legitimate”.

Earlier, Chinese Communist Party mouthpiece The Global Times quoted military expert Song Zhongping, who claimed it was “almost certain” that the surveillance aircraft was flying too low when the incident occurred, about 1.35pm last Thursday.

He told the paper that Australia failed to tell the public how close its aircraft flew near the Chinese vessels “so people could not tell if the Chinese vessels were forced to take defensive countermeasures”.

Scott Morrison condemned the incident in the Torres Strait, demanding answers from Beijing on behalf of “all peace-loving ­nations within our region”.

“This is completely unacceptable and so we have demanded there be an investigation on the behaviour of what occurred on the vessel,” the Prime Minister said on Monday. “It was dangerous, it was reckless and it was unprofessional for what should be a sophisticated navy.

“And we expect, and not just Australia, all countries in the region demand, an answer to this because it’s an Australian surveillance aircraft this time (but) who’s next?”

The Global Times said the Australian government’s re­action to the incident was “an attempt to throw mud at China when the PLA has been sending assistance to other countries in the region like Tonga and the Solomon Islands”.

It also played down the use of the laser, saying it was a rangefinder device that was common to almost all modern warships.

China’s Foreign Ministry spokesman on Monday also criticised discussions at the weekend between Australian, American and British foreign ministers on the AUKUS security partnership, which he said undermined “regional peace and stability”.

“This approach can be called the ‘law of the jungle in the 21st century’,” he said.

Labor, which has pushed back on government claims it would be weak on national security, wrote to Defence Minister Peter Dutton seeking an urgent briefing on the incident. “This is an extremely disturbing incident and therefore (we) request from the Defence Department and the ADF a briefing for the shadow foreign minister and I as a matter of urgency,” opposition defence spokesman Brendan O’Connor said.

Mr O’Connor told the ABC the incident underlined the need for bipartisanship on national ­security, not politicised claims of division.

“Any efforts to artificially distinguish between the two major parties on such matters only undermines the national ­security of Australia,” he said.

“This incident reminds us all that we are not in a position to be quarrelling over confected assertions, as has happened because of the conduct of Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton in recent weeks.

“That should stop, and this is a reminder that we are not in a position to play games with national security.”