Daniel Kritenbrink,the US State Department’s assistant secretary for East Asian and Pacific affairs.Credit:AAP
“Candidly speaking,we wish China were doing more to implement UN Security Council resolutions and various related sanctions vis-a-vis[North Korea] rather than engaging in conduct that is viewed as unsafe,” he said.
Government sources said complaints had been lodged with Beijing through official Defence channels,as well as through embassies in Canberra and Beijing.
Albanese would not confirm if he had called Xi to discuss the incident but said he would raise the matter with Li directly when they met next month.
“We’ve made the appropriate diplomatic representations,as you’d expect. We regard this as unprofessional and ... unacceptable,and we’ve made clear that view to Beijing,both through Beijing and also through Canberra,” Albanese told Nine’sToday program on Tuesday.
“We do have communications with China. That includes visits,and the Chinese premier will be here in June. We will make our position clear as well in discussions.”
An Australian Navy Seahawk helicopter had a near miss with a Chinese fighter jet.
Albanese added:“I think the Australian public would expect some form of explanation about how this could occur.”
Dutton urged Albanese on Tuesday to pick up the phone to Xi to “express his dismay – and,really,disgust – with what has happened because they have put Australian lives at risk and that is completely unacceptable”.
“We want peace to prevail in our region,but we don’t do it from a position of weakness. I think the prime minister has to pick the phone up and express our deep concern because,at the moment,we’ll see a response from China to deny that it happened or that we had made a mistake,” he toldToday.
“It is at some stage going to escalate,perhaps by accident,but it’ll be that unintended consequence,and Australian Defence Force personnel will pay with their lives and we don’t want to see that.”
The Chinese embassy in Canberra has been contacted for comment.
In a statement,the Defence Department criticised China’s behaviour as posing a risk to the aircraft and personnel.
“While there were no injuries sustained by ADF personnel or damage caused to the MH-60R helicopter,the safety and wellbeing of our ADF personnel continues to be our utmost priority,” the department said.
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News of the incident came as reports emerged that the United Kingdom’sMinistry of Defence had been targeted by a massive China cyberattack that revealed the details of armed forces personnel.
In November 2023,two Australian navy divers were injured during an operation in international waters on HMAS Toowoomba after a Chinese warship released sonar pulses.
Albanesecondemned Beijing for the “dangerous” conductat the time but resisted calls to reveal whether he raised the matter with Xi when they spoke on the sidelines of the APEC summit.
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