Australian Federal Prime Minister Scott Morrison today denounced China’s “intimidation” this week: Canberra accuses a Chinese warship of laser-illuminating an Australian military aircraft.
Two Chinese Navy vessels were sailing off the north coast of Australia on Thursday when one of them fired a laser at an Australian intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft, which “could have put lives at risk”, according to the Australian Ministry of Defense.
Scott Morrison stressed that his government would demand explanations from Beijing. “I can see this only as an act of intimidation,” which was “unjustified and unprovoked,” he said, referring to the Chinese military’s lasing of the Australian P-8A Poseidon. “Australia will never accept such acts of intimidation,” he said.
Defense Secretary Peter Dutton bidded on China for “very aggressive action” in Australia’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). “I think the Chinese government hopes that no one will talk about these very aggressive acts of intimidation,” Dutton told Sky News. “We are seeing different forms of this behavior across the region and in different parts of the world,” he added.
According to the Australian Ministry of Defense, the Chinese warship was moving east, towards the Arafura Sea, north of the Australian city of Darwin, which also rains the coasts of Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
Prime Minister Morrison said he “has no doubt” that if he had done something similar to an Australian ship on a Chinese aircraft, Beijing’s reaction would have been very different. “It was a dangerous action (…). I think it was risky, irresponsible and should not have been done,” he said.
He spoke in support of the US Alliance, but said that maintaining some independence was not the answer. “.
Chinese diplomacy has not reacted, at least to this stage, to the Australian government’s accusations.
Canberra had already accused Beijing in 2019 of pointing military-type lasers at Australian Air Force aircraft. It was then that helicopters came into focus in the South China Sea, where tensions have not stopped escalating in recent years.
China claims virtually the entire maritime area, through which trillions of dollars worth of goods pass each year. Parts of the South China Sea, which has a seabed particularly rich in natural resources, are also claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.
Relations between Australia and China – its largest trading partner – have deteriorated dramatically, especially following the exclusion of Chinese telecommunications equipment maker Huawei Technologies from the competition for Australia’s fifth generation (5G) broadband and data network. Canberra is among the governments calling for an “independent inquiry” into the origin of the new coronavirus.
Source: AMPE
Source: Capital
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