Australia slams China for ‘intimidation’ after navy ship directed laser at Australian aircraft

The Defence Minister has slammed China for “completely unacceptable” behaviour, as the PM warns Russia that Australia won’t hesitate to impose sanctions if it invades Ukraine.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton has slammed China for “bullying” after one of their naval vessels targeted an Australian aircraft with a laser.

The Australian Defence Force said the aircraft detected the laser from a Chinese vessel on Thursday while it was flying along Australia’s northern approaches.

On Sunday morning Mr Dutton said it was important to “shine a light” on this behaviour.

“I think the Chinese government is hoping that nobody talks about these aggressive, bullying acts,” Mr Dutton told Sky News.

He said it was “completely unacceptable” and could have left crew-members blind and damaged equipment.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton slammed the Chinese for ‘bullying’ after a navy vessel pointed a laser at an Australian aircraft. Picture: Floss Adams

“It’s a very aggressive act and that’s why it’s right that we call it out,” the minister said.

The Chinese vessel, in company with another People’s Liberation Army – Navy (PLA-N) ship, was sailing east through the Arafura Sea, located between Northern Australia and Western New Guinea, at the time of the incident.

The ADF slammed the act as “unprofessional and unsafe” military conduct in a statement.

“Such actions are not in keeping with the standards we expect of professional militaries.”

A laser used on RAAF aircraft close to the Australian mainland is an escalation of tension between the Chinese navy and Australia’s armed forces.

The last time a PLA warship used a military-grade laser against an RAAF aircraft was in a 2019 incident involving a helicopter on exercises in the South China Sea.

Mr Dutton also told Sunrise there had been a lot of aggression in the region under Chinese President Xi Jinping and pointed to the deaths of Indian soldiers at the border.

China had also launched cyber attacks and used economic coercion in the region, which was concerning, along with their close friendship with Russia, Mr Dutton said.

There was also “coordination” between Russia and China on the timing of the aggressive acts as an invasion of Ukraine appeared imminent, he said.

“The Chinese wouldn’t have wanted Russia going into Ukraine during the course of the Winter Olympics so that conversation clearly has taken place,” the minister said.

A photo of the People's Liberation Army- guided missile destroyer involved in a laser incident with an RAAF P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft.

“I hope that President Putin at the 11th hour can change his direction but at the moment war looks inevitable there and that would be a tragic outcome for the Ukrainians,” Mr Dutton said.

PM issues warning on Ukraine conflict

Scott Morrison says Australia “will follow through” with sanctions against Russia should they make good on their threats of invasion.

The world continues to hold its breath with an invasion seemingly imminent, after a “powerful explosion” hit a gas pipeline in eastern Ukraine on Saturday.

Rebels in the area ordered women and children to evacuate to southern Russia due to fears of conflict, while NATO is relocating staff from capital Kyiv to Lviv in the west.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called on western nations to enforce sanctions on Russia in the event of an invasion.

In the wake of the United States threatening sanctions, Prime Minister Morrison confirmed Australia would follow through with sanctions should the conflict escalate.

He noted Australia had “always stood up to bullying and coercion”, and would continue to do so.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia would not hesitate to enforce sanctions should Russia invade Ukraine. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

“We will follow through with sanctions together and in partnership with all of our other allies and partners,” Mr Morrison said on Sunday.

“And that is one of the key issues of discussion that we have been engaged in with other leaders and with other countries, and to ensure that we move together. Because the world will be moving together to seek to counteract what would be a terrible act of violence – unprovoked, unjustified, unwarranted and unacceptable.”

Mr Morrison said Foreign Minister Marise Payne would be meeting with her Ukraine counterpart on Monday, and Australia was involved at the Munich security conference happening presently.

While Australia will not send troops to Ukraine in the event of an invasion, Mr Morrison said we would seek to support in other ways.

“There are many ways we can work with both our partners and allies, and can work directly to support Ukraine in the work they’re doing – whether it be in the cyberspace area, with planning and various other elements … I can’t go into too much detail on this,” Mr Morrison said.

“These are rather conventional ways where we do provide assistance in areas that don’t require deployment of troops on the ground.

“We’ll work together as part of a team.”

Mr Morrison says Australia supports Ukraine’s sovereignty. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Mr Morrison doubled down on Russia’s threats of invasion, calling it “unacceptable, unwarranted and unprovoked”.

“This is not a legitimate action. There is no just grievance which is being pursued by Russia in relation to Ukraine,” he said.

“If Ukraine wants to join NATO, that’s up to them. It’s not up to other countries to seek to bully them out of decisions that they want to make as a sovereign country, and they (Russia) cannot use threats of violence to intimidate countries in this way.

“It’s not just about their territorial sovereignty. It’s also about the fact that they’re trying to bully and coerce them out of making decisions that are ultimately up to them. Whether they join NATO or not, that’s a matter for Ukraine.

“They have every right to make that decision as a sovereign nation. That’s why it’s so important that the free countries of the world are out there giving them so much support.”

How Australia will respond to Russian invasion in Ukraine

Russia and Ukraine are potentially hours away from all-out war, Australia’s Defence Minister says, but Australia will be staying out of it.

Defence Minister Peter Dutton gave an ominous warning on Friday morning about a looming Russian invasion, saying he believes the world is “on the cusp now of an all-out conflict”.

Despite Moscow denying it is planning to invade Ukraine, US and NATO intelligence suggests Russia is ramping up its presence on the border and preparing to attack.

Mr Dutton said Russian President Vladimir Putin is in the process of “executing the final stages of his plan” to invade.

However Mr Dutton said regardless of what happened, Australia had “no intention” of intervening.

Ukrainian soldiers stand guard outside the building after the reported shelling of a kindergarten in Ukraine. Picture: AFP

“I think it’s tragic, and we’ll see terrible scenes unfolding and it’s obvious that Ukraine’s been under cyber attack for some time,” Mr Dutton told the Nine Network.

“The Russians have amassed ships in the Black Sea, got troops coming in from different directions and you would expect that President Putin, who obviously can’t be taken at his word, is manufacturing some sort of trigger.”

When asked if he thought it was a “fait accompli”, Mr Dutton said every sign indicates “that that’s the case”.

“I mean, you can hope for an 11th-hour miracle. There are lots of European leaders who have tried to avert this but it seems President Putin is pretty intent on his action and direction,” Mr Dutton said.

“That really is going to result in the loss of life, the loss of innocent life and we’ve seen it before in Eastern Europe. We don’t want it repeated but we live in a very uncertain world.”

Peter Dutton has ruled out any military involvement from Australia if Russia and Ukraine go to war. Picture: Gary Ramage

But despite the all but inevitability of escalation, Mr Dutton ruled out sending Australian troops.

“We work closely with the US and the UK and our partners … but if you look at Australia’s involvement, it’s a long way away,” Mr Dutton said.

“We haven’t been asked for troops, so we have no intention of sending troops. This is an issue NATO and Europe needs to deal with and those European leaders really. need to step up and put even more pressure on to Russia to stop them.”

It comes as the United Nations Security Council met overnight to discuss the rising tensions between the two nations, while Australian authorities have urged all Australians in Ukraine to leave immediately.

Australian Army soldiers, pictured at a training exercise in 2021, will not be called in to help with the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.

Mr Dutton’s ominous warning comes in the wake of US President Joe Biden saying intelligence suggested Russia was “engaged in a false flag operation to have an excuse to go in”.

“Every indication we have is they’re prepared to go into Ukraine and attack Ukraine,” Mr Biden said.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said Russia’s false flag operations, including the shelling of a Ukrainian kindergarten, was designed to discredit the Ukrainians.

“The picture is continuing to be very grim,” Mr Johnson said.

“We fear very much that that is a thing we will see more of over the next few days.”

Originally published as Australia slams China for ‘intimidation’ after navy ship directed laser at Australian aircraft