A Chinese naval vessel allegedly shone a laser at an Australian military aircraft last Thursday and was “so close” to Australia’s coastline at the time of the incident it “could have been seen from the shore,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Monday.
“It’s possible people could even see the vessel from our mainland, potentially,” Morrison told reporters on February 21, underscoring the Chinese ship’s flagrant intrusion into Australia’s exclusive economic zone.
Morrison referred to an incident on February 17 in which a Royal Australian Air Force patrol aircraft, specifically a P-8A Poseidon, “detected a laser illuminating the aircraft while in flight over Australia’s northern approaches,” Australia’s Department of Defence (DoD) detailed in a February 19 press release.
“The laser was detected as emanating from a People’s Liberation Army – Navy (PLA-N) vessel. Illumination of the aircraft by the Chinese vessel is a serious safety incident,” the statement read.
“The vessel, in company with another PLA-N ship, was sailing east through the Arafura Sea at the time of the incident. Both ships have since transited through the Torres Strait and are in the Coral Sea,” the Australian DoD explained.
The Arafura Sea is located west of the Pacific Ocean between Australia and Western New Guinea, which is administered by Indonesia. Boeing created the P-8A Poseidon as a maritime patrol aircraft meant for “anti-submarine warfare; anti-surface warfare; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and search and rescue,” according to Boeing’s website.
The Australian DoD described Saturday’s lasing by the Chinese PLA-N vessel as potentially life-threatening: “These actions could have endangered the safety and lives of the ADF [Australian Defense Force] personnel.”
“We strongly condemn unprofessional and unsafe military conduct,” the DoD said in its February 19 statement, adding: “Such actions are not in keeping with the standards we expect of professional militaries.”
“This is not a laser that you buy down at the shop,” Australian Defense Minister Peter Dutton said of the laser used by the PLA-N vessel, news.com.au reported. “This is a military technique and it is military-grade equipment,” he affirmed.
China’s state-run Global Times reported on Monday, quoting an anonymous source, that the laser used by the Chinese Navy on February 17 was “likely” a specific type of laser known as a “rangefinder,” which is “used to measure the distance between the ship and the aircraft.”
Chinese government officials dismissed Australia’s account of the incident in the Arafura Sea as “false:”
Australia’s statement is completely inconsistent with the facts, Senior [PLA] Colonel Tan Kefei, a spokesperson of China’s Ministry of National Defense, said in a statement on Monday.
The Australian P-8 anti-submarine warfare patrol aircraft operated near the Chinese vessel flotilla with a minimal distance of only four kilometers [2.48 miles], Tan said.
During the entire course, the Chinese vessels maintained safe, standard and professional actions, which conform to the relevant international law and international practice, Tan said.
On the other hand, the Australian aircraft was very close to the Chinese vessels and dropped sonobuoys near them, Tan said, citing photos taken on board of the Chinese ships.
A sonobuoy is “a portable sonar system that, when dropped from an aircraft or a ship, can help in detecting submarines and conducting underwater research,” according to ScienceABC.com.
“We demand Australia to immediately stop the provocative, dangerous actions like this, stop groundlessly blaming China, so as to avoid affecting the overall bilateral and mil-to-mil ties,” Tan said on Monday.
Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Wang Wenbin echoed Tan’s statement on February 21 when asked about the February 17 episode during a regular press conference:
According to what we have checked and verified with relevant department on the Chinese side, the information released by the Australian side is untrue. The normal navigation of Chinese vessels on the high seas is in line with relevant international law and international practice and is completely legal and legitimate. We urge Australia to respect the lawful rights that China’s vessels are entitled to in relevant waters under international law and stop maliciously disseminating China-related disinformation.