China has dismissed Australia’s allegations of an unsafe military aircraft encounter over the Yellow Sea, describing the claims as a “distortion of facts,” according to statements released Saturday by state media.
Jiang Bin, spokesperson for China’s Ministry of National Defense of China, said an Australian frigate had repeatedly deployed shipborne helicopters to carry out close-range reconnaissance operations near Chinese waters in both the Yellow Sea and the East China Sea, according to Xinhua News Agency.
“These actions constituted continuous provocations and endangered China’s national security,” said Jiang.
Beijing argued that the operations were conducted under the pretext of enforcing sanctions imposed through United Nations Security Council resolutions on North Korea. However, Chinese officials maintained that the resolutions do not permit countries to deploy military assets to conduct surveillance in waters or airspace under another nation’s jurisdiction.
China’s response followed a statement from Australian Department of Defence on Friday indicating that Australia had lodged concerns with China over what it described as an “unsafe and unprofessional interaction” involving a helicopter from the People’s Liberation Army Navy.
According to the Australian Defense Ministry, a helicopter launched from the frigate HMAS Toowoomba was intercepted on Wednesday by a Chinese naval helicopter while operating in international waters during Operation Argos.
Australian officials said the Chinese aircraft approached at what they described as an “unsafe” distance and performed a maneuver that forced the Australian helicopter to take evasive action.
Canberra characterized the incident as “unsafe and unprofessional,” although authorities confirmed that no injuries were reported and no damage was caused.
