Chinese military claims it ‘expelled’ RAAF aircraft over South China Sea
China claims it used naval and air forces to “expel” a Royal Australian Air Force surveillance plane which had “infringed on its sovereignty” by illegally entering airspace near contested islands in the South China Sea.
The Albanese Government has lodged diplomatic protests after what it describes as an “unsafe and unprofessional” incident on Sunday where a Chinese Su-35 fighter jet twice released flares in the direction of an RAAF P8-A Poseidon.
In a defiant statement, the People’s Liberation Army has accused the Australian military of “illegally intruding” into Chinese airspace around the Xisha Islands “without the approval of the Chinese government”.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.“The Southern Theatre Command mobilized naval and air forces to track, monitor, forcefully counterattack, and issue warnings to expel the aircraft in accordance with laws and regulations”, spokesman Senior Colonel Li Jianjian said.
“Australia’s actions seriously infringe upon China’s sovereignty and are highly likely to lead to maritime and air incidents. We urge Australia to immediately cease its infringing and provocative actions.” “The theatre command maintains a high level of vigilance and resolutely safeguards national sovereignty, security, and regional peace and stability,” Senior Colonel Li added.
No Australian personnel were injured in Sunday’s encounter, which is similar to an incident that occurred in February, just before Chinese warships conducted announced live-fire exercises in the Tasman Sea.
Defence Minister Richard Marles has declined to comment on the timing of the latest incident which occurred just ahead of Anthony Albanese’s first face-to-face meeting with US President Donald Trump early on Tuesday morning (Australian time).
“I’m not going to speculate on that other than to say, this has clearly happened before, so it’s not the first occasion on which we’ve seen this, and that’s why we have a very set procedure that we go through in instances of this kind.”
Beijing claims almost the entire South China Sea as its own despite a 2016 international tribunal ruling that rejected its so-called “nine dash line” territory boundary.
On Monday evening China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Spokesman Guo Jiakun claimed to be “not aware” of the incident when questioned about it by Japanese public broadcaster NHK during a regular international media briefing in Beijing.
