Australian PM reaches out to China after close encounter and ‘chaffing’ incident between military jets

Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese said his administration has flagged a “chaffing” incident in which a Chinese fighter aircraft intercepted an Australian military surveillance plane.

Mr Albanese said his country — one of the four members of the Quad grouping with the US, Japan and India that seeks to counter China — was concerned about the interception that reportedly took place on 26 May and added that he had pointed out the issue to Beijing through “appropriate channels”.

The dangerous manoeuvre by the Chinese jet in the South China Sea region posed a safety threat to the Australian aircraft and its crew, the prime minister said in Perth on Sunday.

Australia’s defence department said the Chinese J-16 jet intercepted a Royal Australian Air Force P-8 maritime surveillance aircraft during “routine maritime surveillance activity” in international airspace.

“The intercept resulted in a dangerous manoeuvre which posed a safety threat to the P-8 aircraft and its crew,” the Australian government’s defence department said in a statement.

It added that the Australian government had raised its concerns about the incident with the Chinese Government.

The defence department said it has undertaken maritime surveillance activities in the region for decades and “does so in accordance with international law, exercising the right to freedom of navigation and overflight in international waters and airspace”.

There has been no immediate confirmation of the incident from China’s foreign ministry in Beijing or through its envoys in Australia.

According to Australian defence minister Richard Marles, the Chinese jet flew very close in front of the RAAF aircraft and released a “bundle of chaff” containing small pieces of aluminium that were ingested into the Australian aircraft’s engine.

“Quite obviously this is very dangerous,” Mr Marles said in an interview with ABC television.

Canberra has said China’s claims over contested islands in the South China Sea are not in compliance with international law.

Bilateral ties between Australia and China have suffered a setback in recent years amid China’s growing influence in the Pacific and were compounded with Australia’s increasing proximity to Washington and other western nations.

Australia participated in the diplomatic boycott of the Beijing Winter Olympics in February this year, which saw many nations abstaining from sending their delegations to China over human rights violations accusations against Uyghur Muslims and other minorities by the Xi Jinping administration.

Australia has also sided with western nations over the war in Ukraine.

The latest interception by the Australian defence forces comes shortly after a Chinese intelligence ship was tracked off its west coast within 50 nautical miles of a sensitive defence facility used by Australia and the US.