A Chinese J-16 fighter has aggressively challenged an RAAF maritime surveillance aircraft in international airspace over the South China Sea, flying dangerously close to the Australian jet and firing flares and “chaff” countermeasures.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said some aluminium chaff was drawn into the engines of the P-8A Poseidon during the May 26 incident, but the aircraft and its crew made it back to base unharmed.
Australia has lodged a furious protest with Beijing over the dramatic mid-air incident, declaring the safety of the aircraft and its crew were “placed in jeopardy”.
Mr Marles said the J-16 flew “very close to the side of the P-8”, releasing decoy flares as it did so.
“The J-16 then accelerated and cut across the nose of the P-8 settling in front of the P-8 at a very close distance,” he said.
“At that moment it then released a bundle of chaff, which contains small pieces of aluminium, some of which were ingested into the engines of the P-8 aircraft.
“Quite obviously this is very dangerous.”
Mr Marles said the crew responded to the incident “professionally and in a manner which would make us all feel proud”.
The incident occurred despite Chinese claims that it wants its bilateral relationship with Australia to improve.
Mr Marles said the P-8 was undertaking normal maritime surveillance activities in the area, which Australia and other countries had done for decades.
“We were operating completely within our rights in international law,” he said.
Mr Marles said the South China Sea was of vital interest to Australia because most of the nation’s trade traverses the region.
He said the incident “will not deter Australia from continuing to engage in these activities which are within our rights under international law to ensure there is freedom of navigation in the South China Sea”.
The incident comes after a Chinese ship in the Arafura Sea shone a powerful laser at a P-8A Poseidon aircraft in February in an incident former prime minister Scott Morrison described as ““a reckless and irresponsible act”
Tensions were escalated further during the Australian election campaign when a Chinese surveillance ship was detected off Australia’s west coast, in what then-defence minister Peter Dutton said was an “act of aggression”.