(Feb 13): Australia accused the Chinese air force of an “unsafe and unprofessional interaction” with one of its military aircraft over the South China Sea during a routine maritime surveillance operation.

An air force patrol plane had been flying across the body of water on Feb 11 when a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) fighter jet released flares near the Australian aircraft, the defence department in Canberra said on Thursday. 

“This was an unsafe and unprofessional manoeuvre that posed a risk to the aircraft and personnel,” the department said in a statement. It added that no injuries were sustained by Australian military personnel and the aircraft was undamaged.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said at a regular press briefing on Thursday in Beijing that the Australian plane “deliberately intruded into China’s airspace,” violating his nation’s sovereignty.

He said the PLA’s response was “legitimate, professional and restrained”, and that Beijing lodged a protest “demanding that Australia stop its infringement and undermining peace and stability in the South China Sea”.

Relations between Australia and China have rapidly improved over the past three years since the election of the centre-left Labor government. Still, military incidents between the two nations have threatened to hurt ties.

In May last year, both countries blamed each other for a potentially dangerous interaction over the Yellow Sea, where Australia said a Chinese aircraft was “releasing flares along the flight path” of one of its helicopters. Beijing denied the accusations.

Six months earlier, two Australian navy divers were injured by sonar pulses after a standoff with a Chinese naval vessel.

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