Australia PM blasts China for ‘unacceptable’ use of flares near military helicopter

The Chinese air force J-10 jet dropped flares above and several hundred metres ahead of an Australian MH60R Seahawk helicopter on a routine flight on Saturday in the Yellow Sea as part of an operation to enforce sanctions against North Korea, Defence Minister Richard Marles said on Monday evening.

China’s foreign ministry said on Tuesday that the necessary measures had been taken to warn the Australian helicopter. “The Australian military aircraft flew near China’s airspace in a threatening way,” said foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian. “China military took necessary measures to warn the Australian side.”

China has also been accused of unsafe behaviour in the skies by other countries, including Canada and the United States.

Albanese said Australia’s had made representations over the incident. “This issue, we have made public in order to be able to speak out very clearly and unequivocally that this behaviour is unacceptable,” he told Nine’s Today Show.

The Australian Defence Force personnel were “in international waters, international airspace, and they’re doing work to ensure that the sanctions that the world has imposed through the United Nations on North Korea, due to their intransigent and reckless behaviour, are enforced”. “They shouldn’t have been at any risk,” he said.

The Australian public expected an explanation from China about the incident, and Australia had made “very strong representations at every level to China”, he added.

“We will make our position clear as well in discussions,” he said.

The helicopter, flying from destroyer HMAS Hobart, dodged the flares. The confrontation put the aircraft and those on board at risk, although no one was hurt, the Department of Defence said in a separate statement.

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