Australia says Chinese fighter jet intercepted surveillance craft in May
This handout photo taken and released on Jan 17, 2022, by the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and the Australian Defence Force shows a RAAF P-8 Poseidon aircraft departing from RAAF Base Amberley in the state of Queensland to assist the Tongan government after the eruption of the Hunga-Tonga - Hunga-Haa'pai volcano on Jan 15. (File photo: AFP/LACW Emma Schwenke, Australian Defence Force)
SYDNEY: A Chinese fighter aircraft dangerously intercepted an Australian military surveillance plane in the South China Sea region in May, Australia's Defence Department said on Sunday (Jun 5).
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft was intercepted by a Chinese J-16 fighter during "routine maritime surveillance activity" in international airspace in the region on May 26, the department said in a statement.
"The intercept resulted in a dangerous manoeuvre which posed a safety threat to the P-8 aircraft and its crew," it said.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters in Perth that his government had expressed concerns to China "through appropriate channels".
China's embassy in Australia did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said that the Chinese jet flew very close in front of the RAAF aircraft and released a "bundle of chaff" containing small pieces of aluminium that were ingested into the Australian aircraft's engine.
"Quite obviously this is very dangerous," Marles told ABC television.
Australia has previously joined the United States in stating that China’s claims around contested islands in the South China Sea do not comply with international law.
The Department of Defence said for decades it had undertaken maritime surveillance 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".
Relations between Australia and China, major trading partners, have been strained recently over growing Chinese influence in the Pacific after China sought a regional security deal with Pacific Island nations.
Also in May, a Chinese intelligence ship was tracked off Australia's west coast within 50 nautical miles of a sensitive defence facility, which is used by Australian, US and allied submarines.
In February, China and Australia traded barbs over an incident in which Australia said one of its maritime patrol aircraft detected a laser directed at it from a People's Liberation Army Navy vessel.
