China has accused Australia of “creating trouble” after defense forces revealed a diver was injured by Chinese sonar blasts near an Australian navy ship.
After Anthony Albanese was criticized for allegedly “delaying” disclosing details of the incident during his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping, the prime minister said on Monday that what happened was “dangerous and Not professional “.
But his response angered the Chinese government, which rejected the idea that one of its warships injured Australian divers, calling the claim “regrettable”.
“We hope relevant parties will stop making trouble on China’s doorstep and work with China to maintain the momentum of improvement and growth in China-Australia relations,” said the Chinese Ministry of Affairs spokesperson. foreigners, Mao Ning.
Australian authorities say a Chinese warship injured Australian servicemen aboard HMAS Toowoomba off the coast of Japan with sonar pulses last Tuesday.
China has accused Australia of “creating trouble” after defense forces revealed a diver was injured by Chinese sonar blasts near an Australian navy ship. Anthony Albanese is pictured with Chinese President Xi Jinping
The Australians were operating in international waters in support of a United Nations mission when the incident occurred.
But China’s Defense Ministry said its navy destroyer had not carried out any activities that could affect diving operations and was “keeping a safe distance from the Australian vessel”.
Australia’s remarks on the incident were “totally inconsistent with the facts”, the Chinese government said in a statement.
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said it was not good for relations between the countries for China to refuse to acknowledge what happened.
“It’s very unfortunate, because if you’re not prepared to acknowledge the facts, that doesn’t prove your willingness to change your behavior,” he told ABC radio on Tuesday.
“This is really what we and so many other countries in the region need to see the Chinese military do, which is change its operational protocols and behavior to be less confrontational.”
Failure to do so increases the risk of an accident or miscalculation in the future, he said.
“Of course, this in turn increases the risk of possible escalation, with all the devastating consequences that would entail.”
The incident occurred just days before Mr Albanese met Mr Xi on the sidelines of last week’s APEC summit in San Francisco.
The prime minister remains under pressure to confirm whether he directly raised the incident with Mr Xi during their APEC meeting.
The incident was kept secret for several days and only became public after Mr Albanese left the summit to return home.
He declined to detail the content of the private discussions, but Mr. Birmingham said Mr. Albanese had been happy to discuss the issues raised with Mr. Xi during his visit to China.
“So the fact that he is now coming back to Australia and saying ‘I will not reveal the contents of the conversations’ is completely disingenuous and completely at odds with the evidence,” he said.
Australian authorities said a Chinese warship injured Australian servicemen aboard HMAS Toowoomba off the coast of Japan with sonar pulses last Tuesday.
Australian authorities said a Chinese warship injured Australian servicemen aboard HMAS Toowoomba off the coast of Japan with sonar pulses last Tuesday.
Mr Albanese and senior ministers said Australia’s objections had been clearly expressed and raised with Chinese authorities.
“I can assure you that we have raised these issues in the appropriate way and very clearly and unequivocally,” Mr Albanese told Sky News on Monday.
“There is no misunderstanding about Australia’s view on this.”
