Australia flags China's 'unsafe' flare drop in aerial encounter

Australia has raised concerns with Beijing after a Chinese fighter jet dropped flares near one of its maritime patrol planes, the defence department said on Monday, labelling the incident "unsafe and unprofessional".

The Chinese jet released flares in close proximity to an Australian maritime patrol plane carrying out surveillance in the South China Sea, posing a risk to the latter craft and its crew, Australia's defence department said in a statement.

"This was an unsafe and unprofessional manoeuvre," it added. "Australia expects all countries, including China, to operate their militaries in a safe and professional manner."

China's military gave Australia a warning and called the incident an "intrusion" by the plane into its airspace around the Paracel Islands, which it deployed naval and air forces to monitor and expel.

"Australia's actions constitute a grave violation of China's sovereignty and pose a high risk of triggering maritime and aerial incidents," the spokesperson for the Southern Theater Command air force said in a statement on Monday.

No injuries were reported in the encounter between the People's Liberation Army jet and the aircraft of the Australian Air Force, the Australian defence department statement said, while the P-8A Poseidon patrol plane was not damaged.

The Chinese jet fired flares on two occasions, Defence Minister Richard Marles said in a television interview with Sky News Australia.

"It's really that, the proximity at which the flares were released, which has given us cause to deem this unsafe and unprofessional," he said.

The incident is the latest of a series of military encounters involving China that Australia has called out publicly in similar terms.

In February, it also criticised as "unsafe and unprofessional" the actions of a Chinese fighter jet that dropped flares within 30 m (100 ft) of a maritime patrol plane.