China-Australia ties unlikely to deteriorate over Yellow Sea military skirmish, analysts say

02:16

Australian leader slams China for ‘unacceptable’ use of flares near military helicopter

Beijing defended its actions, saying the Australian helicopter had ventured too close into Chinese airspace and was spying on and “disrupting” its naval training in the Yellow Sea, an area between China and the Korean peninsula.

Chinese defence ministry spokesman Zhang Xiaogang said Australia had confused “right from wrong” and the Chinese military was right to warn the Australian helicopter. Australia’s defence chief Angus Campbell rejected Beijing’s accusations on Thursday, saying the helicopter had behaved professionally.

An accurate explanation for such incidents was hard to establish given the lack of information and intelligence, just as it was difficult to know if the Chinese pilot had acted on his own accord or if he had communicated with his superiors or the Australian navy, said Allan Behm, director of international and security affairs at The Australian Institute.

“Everybody assumes it was personally commanded by Xi, but I think that that is so highly unlikely as to be risible.

“There is [however] not enough evidence to suggest malfeasance.”

An explanation for China’s behaviour could be drawn from a 2001 Hainan incident when a Chinese jet crashed after it hit a US military plane near Hainan island, killing its pilot, Behm says.

The American aircraft made an emergency landing on the island, triggering a diplomatic stand-off.

Chinese analysts said the incident had propelled China’s modernisation of its air force and navy and prompted the army to develop a strategy that focused more on offshore defence.

Sometimes, lower level commanders in China could be “overzealous” because they believed an aggressive response was what Beijing