China has accused Australia of covering up an incursion into Chinese airspace in response to Canberra’s earlier claims about an “unsafe and unprofessional” incident involving the two nations’ military aircraft over the South China Sea.
Chinese Ministry of National Defence spokesperson Jiang Bin told reporters on Tuesday that China had lodged a “solemn” complaint with Australia over what he said was Australia’s “attempts to cover up the egregious illegal intrusion of its military aircraft into Chinese airspace”.
Jiang claimed that a statement issued by Australia’s Defence Force on Monday “shifts the blame onto China”, and called on Australia to “restrain the actions of its frontline naval and air forces, and avoid damaging the relations between China and Australia”.
The response from China’s Defence Ministry came a day after Australia’s Ministry of Defence issued a statement about an “unsafe and unprofessional” incident on Sunday, in which it said a Chinese Air Force fighter aircraft “released flares in close proximity” to an Australian Air Force plane conducting a “maritime surveillance patrol in the South China Sea”.
“For decades, the [Australian Defence Force] has undertaken maritime surveillance activities in the region and does so in accordance with international law,” the Australian statement added.
Australia’s statement did not specify where in the South China Sea the alleged incident took place, whereas Jiang claimed the incident occurred in airspace over “China’s Xisha Islands”, Beijing’s name for the Paracel Islands.
The Paracel group of islands is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.
China and Australia traded similar accusations regarding another incident in February this year.
China claims almost all of the South China Sea, despite an international ruling from an international tribunal at The Hague in 2016 that concluded its claim has no legal basis.
The busy waterway is one of several flashpoints in the relationship between China and the United States, which include a trade war, US sanctions, and the issues of Hong Kong and Taiwan. The South China Sea is also a source of tensions between China and several of its neighbours, which claim parts of it.
Australia’s latest accusations came as Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese met with US President Donald Trump at the White House on Monday, signing an agreement for Australia to supply rare earth and critical minerals to the US in the wake of China placing restrictions on its own exports.
The two leaders also discussed Australia’s deal to obtain and build nuclear-powered submarines under the AUKUS security pact between Australia, the United Kingdom and the US.
“The submarines that we’re starting to build for Australia are really moving along,” Trump told reporters on Monday, after Washington had said earlier this year that it was reviewing the deal for at least three Virginia-class nuclear attack submarines signed under previous US President Joe Biden.
In Beijing, the Chinese government reiterated its opposition to the pact after Albanese and Trump’s meeting.
“We always oppose creating bloc confrontation, increasing nuclear proliferation risks and intensifying an arms race,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on Tuesday.
Additional reporting by Bonnie Liao in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
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