The defence department has accused the Chinese navy of another “unsafe and unprofessional” incident where flares were allegedly dropped near an Australian aircraft on routine operations in the South China Sea on Tuesday.
Defence also released information about three Chinese ships it has been monitoring in the Coral Sea, to Australia’s north, for several days.
The flare incident is the latest contested run-in between military craft from the two countries, following a similar aircraft encounter in the same area last year and a highly controversial report of a Chinese ship deploying sonar in close proximity to Australian navy divers in 2023.
The latest incident, on 11 February, involved an Australian P-8A Poseidon patrol aircraft conducting a “routine maritime surveillance patrol in the South China Sea” when it encountered a PLA-AF J-16 fighter aircraft, a statement from the defence department on Thursday afternoon said.
“The PLA-AF aircraft released flares in close proximity to the RAAF P-8A aircraft. This was an unsafe and unprofessional manoeuvre that posed a risk to the aircraft and personnel,” the department said.
The statement went on to say there were no injuries and no damage was sustained to the aircraft. The defence minister, Richard Marles, said if any flares had hit the Australian plane, it would have “had the potential for significant damage”.
He told Sky News “a number of interactions” occurred between the two craft.
“One of those interactions involved the release of flares at a very close distance to the P-8, such that the flares passed within about 30 metres of the P-8. What’s important though is that the proximity of the J-16 was so close that there’s no way you could have been able to ensure that the flares did not hit the P-8,” he said.
“We have made representations about our concerns to the Chinese government both yesterday and today here in Canberra, but also in Beijing.”
Defence said in its statement: “Australia expects all countries, including China, to operate their militaries in a safe and professional manner.
“For decades, the [Australian Defence Force] has 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.”
At the same time, the department also released information about what it called a “People’s Liberation Army-Navy task group” in waters north-east of Australia: a Jiangkai-class frigate named Hengyang, a Renhai cruiser named Zunyi and a Fuchi-class replenishment vessel Weishanhu.
It was understood Australia’s defence department believed the Chinese ships were operating in accordance with international law, conducting freedom of navigation exercises.
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Marles told Sky the government did not believe the flare incident and the Chinese ships’ arrival off Australia’s coastline were related, despite Defence’s simultaneous release of information about both. Guardian Australia was told the timing of the two announcements was coincidental.
“That of course is well within China’s rights, but it’s also within our rights to act in a prudent way. And I’ve ordered a deployment of both navy and air force assets to make sure that we are shadowing this, to have a clear understanding of what’s going on,” he said.
Defence said the ships had travelled through south-east Asia, then entered Australia’s maritime approaches.
“One of the vessels, the Hengyang, transited the waters to Australia’s north,” a separate statement said.
“Australia respects the rights of all states to exercise freedom of navigation and overflight in accordance with international law, just as we expect others to respect Australia’s right to do the same.
“Defence will continue to monitor the activities of the task group in Australia’s maritime approaches with a combination of capabilities, including air and maritime assets.”