Anthony Albanese confronts Chinese leader over ‘dangerous’ military incident

Anthony Albanese insists he “very directly” raised concerns with his Chinese counterpart over a recent military confrontation in which flares were fired “dangerously” close to an Australian surveillance plane.

Confirmation of the high-level discussion came as details emerged of two other incidents in the South China Sea on Sunday involving US Navy aircraft crashing into the contested waters.

Speaking after his talks with Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit in Malaysia, Mr Albanese described the bilateral as “a positive meeting” and described the Chinese leader a “friend”.

“Dialogue is about advancing our interests, matching our differences but dealing with each other in a frank and clear way,” the Prime Minister said.

“We have disagreements and friends are able to discuss issues,” Mr Albanese told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

“It’s important that we engage and that we engage diplomatically, and we make clear our position, which I did directly, which we did when the incident occurred. He heard the message very directly.

“I’ve said repeatedly, we must cooperate where we can. Disagree where we must. But engage in our national interests. And that’s the spirit in which we entered the discussion today.”

Earlier this month the Defence Minister Richard Marles condemned the People’s Liberation Army for its conduct after a Chinese Su-35 fighter twice released flares near an RAAF P-8 Poseidon near the Spratly Islands in the contested South China Sea.

Today’s meeting between Mr Albanese and the Chinese Premier comes after his visit to Washington last week where he inked a $13b critical minerals deal with US President Donald Trump aimed at weakening Beijing’s stranglehold on the strategic sector.

“I clearly have indicated the success of my visit to the United States, and we talked in a common way about that it was a good thing that President Trump and President Xi are having a meeting over the next little period,” Mr Albanese said when asked if the Chinese leader had raised concerns about the deal.

Asked about growing doubts over the future of the so-called Quad alliance between Australia, Japan, the United States and India, the PM said he was hopeful a leaders meeting was likely to be held in the first quarter of 2026.

In Malaysia the US and China have also hailed the outcome of their trade talks, raising expectations that Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping will seal a deal to de-escalate their trade war at their first meeting since 2019.

On Sunday US and Chinese officials said the sides had made significant progress towards a deal as they wrapped a weekend of negotiations on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit.

The presidents of the world’s two largest economies are set to meet on Thursday on the sidelines of the APEC summit in South Korea.

On Monday Mr Albanese also used a speech to the ASEAN summit to push for a “deepening” of cooperation by arguing “the best way to enhance the security and resilience of our economies is not to turn inwards, it is to look outwards.”

“Because the best argument for ASEAN, the best argument for engagement and integration across our region, the best case we can make for free and fair trade, is not a theoretical one,” Mr Albanese told fellow attendees at the forum.

The Prime Minister said he’d also been briefed on the crash of two US Navy aircraft into the South China Sea in separate incidents on Sunday and expressed relief that no fatalities had been reported.

The first crash involved a MH-60R Sea Hawk helicopter, which “went down in the waters of the South China Sea while conducting routine operations from the aircraft carrier USS Nimitz,” according to a statement from the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet.

All three crew members aboard the helicopter were recovered by search and rescue teams, the statement said.

Thirty minutes later, according to the Navy, a Boeing F/A-18F Super Hornet fighter jet crashed into the South China Sea, also “while conducting routine operations” from the USS Nimitz.

The Navy’s statement said both crew members aboard ejected themselves from the vessel and were safely recovered.

“All personnel involved are safe and in stable condition,” the US Navy said. “The cause of both incidents is currently under investigation.”

Meanwhile initial planning has begun for Japan’s new Prime Minister to visit Australia next year, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of an historic Friendship and Co-operation treaty signed between both nations.

Overnight Mr Albanese had a “very warm” first meeting with Japan’s so-called ‘Iron Lady’ and first female leader, Sanae Takaichi, on the sidelines of the ASEAN summit.

The Nightly can reveal that preliminary diplomatic discussions are underway for the Japanese Prime Minister to visit Australia next year, fifty years after Japan signed the 1976 Basic Treaty on Friendship and Cooperation in Tokyo.

The document signed by former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser is also known as the NARA Treaty, the same name as the Japanese city where Ms Takaichi was born, and which still has a sister-city relationship with Canberra.

Mr Albanese said he had congratulated Ms Takaichi on her recent election victory and revealed the pair discussed this year’s frigates deal with the Asian nation which is now one of Australia’s closest military partners.