PM to raise ‘unsafe’ China jet incident with Premier Li Qiang

Anthony Albanese says he will make clear to the Chinese Premier the government’s concerns after a Chinese fighter jet dropped flares close to an Australian navy helicopter.

A Seahawk helicopter returns to HMAS Hobart during operations to enforce UN sanctions against North Korea. Picture: Defence

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he will make clear to Chinese Premier Li Qiang the government’s fury after a Chinese fighter jet dropped flares close to an Australian navy helicopter, when Mr Li visits in June.

Mr Li is visiting Australia ahead of expected sanction lifts on Australian exports.

“We do have a clear position there. we do have communications with China. That includes visits - and the Chinese Premier will be here in June,” Mr Albanese said.

“We will make our position clear as well in discussions.”

The Australian aircraft was forced to take emergency action when a Chinese J-10 fighter dropped multiple flares in its flight path. No one on the helicopter was injured, but the action could have been disastrous if not for the quick reflexes of its crew.

Mr Albanese said the government had made its views clear to Beijing over the “unprofessional and unacceptable incident,” and would continue to do so.

“One of the things that had broken down over a period of time was any dialogue. Dialogue is important. It’s always, always important to have avenues of communication,” he said.

“That’s why we’ve used all of those avenues of communication to make our position on this incident very clear.

“We have made very strong representations at every level to China about this incident, which we regard as unprofessional and unacceptable,” Mr Albanese said.

“Australian Defence Force personnel were going about their job, their job in international waters but also in international skies, to support the United Nations in the sanctions that they have against the North Korean regime.

“That is part of Australia being good, global citizens. Australian Defence Force personnel should not be at risk whilst they’re doing that.

“We’ve made it very clear through all of our channels, at all measures at our disposal, including here publicly,” Mr Albanese said.

“It’s important that we speak out when events like this occur, it’s important that we make clear our position, which has been done at the diplomatic levels.”

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has called for the Prime Minister to “express his dismay” to Chinese President Xi Jinping over the incident.

The incident had already prompted a furious reaction from the ­Albanese government, with Defence Minister Richard Marles condemning the incident as “unsafe and completely unacceptable”, revealing the government had already lodged a protest with Beijing.

“The PLA-Air Force plane dropped flares about 300m in front of the Seahawk helicopter and about 60m above it, requiring the helicopter to take evasive action in order to not be hit by those flares,” Mr Marles said. “This is a very serious incident. The consequence of being hit by the flares would have been significant.”

Mr Dutton said Mr Albanese should “pick up the phone” to Mr Xi, telling Sunrise on Tuesday: “This is not the first time that it’s happened. We know there have been other incidents, for example, with our navy divers.

“I fear Australian Defence Force members will also lose their lives at some point because there will be an error in judgment by one of the fighter pilots or one of the naval personnel from the Chinese side.

“I think the Prime Minister should pick the phone up to the Chinese President to express his dismay and ... disgust with what has happened.

“They have put Australian lives at risk and that is completely unacceptable.”

Mr Dutton said the incident was a dangerous act and should be called out by Mr Albanese.

“We know enough from what’s publicly available now to show that it was ... a provocative, unnecessary, (and) a dangerous act and it should be called out by the Prime Minister,” Mr Dutton said.

“The Prime Minister should express his view very strongly to the Chinese President.”

The helicopter was operating off air warfare destroyer HMAS Hobart, which Mr Marles said would continue its work in the area enforcing UN Security Council sanctions.

“We have formally expressed our concerns about this incident, and formally expressed that this was both unsafe and unprofessional,” he said. “It is our expectation in the interaction of our two militaries is that they happen in a manner which is professional and safe for all concerned.”

The incident follows a Chinese naval vessel’s reckless sonar blast in the vicinity of Australian divers off Japan in November as they sought to clear a fishing net from HMAS Toowoomba’s propeller. The sonar blast could have seriously injured the sailors.

Former defence official Peter Jennings said the latest near miss presented a challenge for Anthony Albanese, who refused to say after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping last year whether he had raised the sonar incident.

“Is he now going to pick up the phone to talk to Xi Jinping? He must push back on this,” Mr Jennings said. “This is direct aggression against our forces, and that’s something the Prime Minister needs to have a public view on.”

Mr Jennings said Beijing was trying to bully foreign navies to stay as far away from China as possible. “It’s a pattern of military escalation that China has been employing for at least 18 months,” he said. “The Pentagon listed about 200 incidents several months ago. This is highly dangerous conduct and sooner or later is going to lead to an accident and deaths.”

A Royal Australian Navy MH-60R Seahawk. Picture: Brad Fleet

The Australian Defence Force said in a statement: “This was an unsafe manoeuvre which posed a risk to the aircraft and personnel.”

It said Australia expected all countries, including China, to operate their militaries in a professional and safe manner.

“Defence has, for decades, undertaken maritime surveillance activities in the region and does so in accordance with international law, exercising the right to freedom of navigation and overflight in international waters and airspace,” the statement said.

The latest incident comes days after Mr Marles vowed to ramp up joint naval exercises with the US, Japan and The Philippines in the South China Sea, to challenge Beijing’s disputed claim to the waterway.

He said after talks with counterparts in Hawaii that Australia was “utterly committed to asserting freedom of navigation”.

“We’ve spoken about an ­increased tempo of defence exercises based on the reciprocal ­access agreements … that we have between our countries or which are being negotiated,” Mr Marles said last Friday.

Earlier that week, China’s Coast Guard damaged two Filipino vessels with a powerful water cannon, prompting the 20th diplomatic protest by Manila against such conduct this year. China said of that incident that its vessel took necessary measures in accordance with the law, and the way it handled the situation was professional, proper and lawful.

China’s use of flares against other nations’ aircraft is not a new tactic. A Chinese J-16 fighter fired flares and “chaff” countermeasures ahead of an Australian surveillance jet over the South China Sea in June 2022. Chinese ships have also used powerful lasers in the past to dazzle pilots of Australian aircraft flying in international airspace in the South China Sea.