‘Stop provocations’: China fires back at Australia over Yellow Sea flare incident

The Chinese government has fired back at Australia over a dangerous military incident in the Yellow Sea, accusing Australia’s military of behaving in a provocative and threatening way by operating in international waters near China.

Beijing’s first official response to the incident came as a top United States diplomat joined Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in condemning China for dropping flares in front of an Australian Navy helicopter, declaring it part of a pattern of increasingly aggressive behaviour by Beijing that could cost lives.

Albanese said he would raise the incident with Chinese Premier Li Qiang when he visited Australia next month, after the government lodged multiple protests with the Chinese government.

However, China’s ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, has not been called in for an official rebuke and the government has declined calls to expel diplomats in retaliation for Saturday night’s incident.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has urged Albanese to call Chinese President Xi Jinping to express his “disgust” at the incident, which has strained Australia’s attempts to stabilise relations with Beijing.

The Defence Department confirmed that a PLA-AF fighter aircraft dropped flares about 300 metres in front and 60 metres above a Royal Australian Navy MH-60R helicopter, which had launched from HMAS Hobart.

The helicopter pilot averted disaster by taking evasive action to avoid the flares.

“The Australian military aircraft flew near China airspace in a threatening way,” China’s foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said at a press briefing on Tuesday, insisting the Chinese military took the necessary steps to warn Australia.

“What truly happened was that an Australian military aircraft deliberately flew within close range of China’s airspace in a provocative move which endangered China’s maritime air security.

“China has launched serious protests with the Australian side on these risky moves. We urge Australia to stop provocations to prevent misunderstanding and miscalculation.”

Albanese said navy personnel were working in the Yellow Sea to ensure the enforcement of United Nations sanctions on North Korea, making China’s intercept “completely unacceptable”.

Daniel Kritenbrink, the US State Department’s assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said the Biden administration was “deeply concerned” by the incident and called for China to do more to enforce UN sanctions on North Korea.

“These are serious matters; you could have an accident that could put someone’s life at risk,” Kritenbrink said during a visit to Canberra to meet with Australian officials.

“These are not just abstract principles, we’re talking about the safety and wellbeing of our military personnel.”

Kritenbrink said that over recent years, “the general trend has been a Chinese military that is more aggressive and assertive ... and unfortunately, oftentimes unprofessional and unsafe in how it’s operated”.

“Unfortunately, this is a phenomenon that has been developing for many years now, and it’s probably going to be with us for many years to come,” Kritenbrink said.

“I think it’s really incumbent for all of us to speak up and speak out when these incidents happen, to demonstrate that we expect China and its military to operate in a professional and safe manner.”

Kritenbrink said Australian military personnel were doing important work enforcing international sanctions on the illegal transfer of nuclear weapons material to North Korea.

Daniel Kritenbrink, the US State Department’s assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs.Credit: AAP

“Candidly speaking, we wish China were doing more to implement UN Security Council resolutions and various related sanctions vis-a-vis [North Korea] rather than engaging in conduct that is viewed as unsafe,” he said.

Government sources said complaints had been lodged with Beijing through official Defence channels, as well as through embassies in Canberra and Beijing.

Albanese would not confirm if he had called Xi to discuss the incident but said he would raise the matter with Li directly when they met next month.

“We’ve made the appropriate diplomatic representations, as you’d expect. We regard this as unprofessional and ... unacceptable, and we’ve made clear that view to Beijing, both through Beijing and also through Canberra,” Albanese told Nine’s Today program on Tuesday.

“We do have communications with China. That includes visits, and the Chinese premier will be here in June. We will make our position clear as well in discussions.”

An Australian Navy Seahawk helicopter had a near miss with a Chinese fighter jet.

Albanese added: “I think the Australian public would expect some form of explanation about how this could occur.”

Dutton urged Albanese on Tuesday to pick up the phone to Xi to “express his dismay – and, really, disgust – with what has happened because they have put Australian lives at risk and that is completely unacceptable”.

“We want peace to prevail in our region, but we don’t do it from a position of weakness. I think the prime minister has to pick the phone up and express our deep concern because, at the moment, we’ll see a response from China to deny that it happened or that we had made a mistake,” he told Today.

“It is at some stage going to escalate, perhaps by accident, but it’ll be that unintended consequence, and Australian Defence Force personnel will pay with their lives and we don’t want to see that.”

The Chinese embassy in Canberra has been contacted for comment.

In a statement, the Defence Department criticised China’s behaviour as posing a risk to the aircraft and personnel.

“While there were no injuries sustained by ADF personnel or damage caused to the MH-60R helicopter, the safety and wellbeing of our ADF personnel continues to be our utmost priority,” the department said.

News of the incident came as reports emerged that the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence had been targeted by a massive China cyberattack that revealed the details of armed forces personnel.

In November 2023, two Australian navy divers were injured during an operation in international waters on HMAS Toowoomba after a Chinese warship released sonar pulses.

Albanese condemned Beijing for the “dangerous” conduct at the time but resisted calls to reveal whether he raised the matter with Xi when they spoke on the sidelines of the APEC summit.

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