Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison accused Beijing of acts of intimidation after a Chinese navy ship aimed a laser at an Australian military reconnaissance plane last week.
A P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft was illuminated Thursday as it flew over Australia's northern approach by a laser from a People's Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) ship, which is potentially life-threatening, the defense department said.
Morrison said his government would demand answers from Beijing. "I can't see anything other than an act of intimidation, one unwarranted, unwarranted," Morrison said at a briefing.
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"And Australia will never accept such an act of intimidation."
Defense Minister Peter Dutton called the incident a very aggressive act that took place in Australia's exclusive economic zone.
"I think the Chinese government hopes that nobody talks about this act of aggressive intimidation," Dutton told Sky News television.
"We're seeing those shapes right across the region and in many parts of the world."
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The Chinese ship was sailing east with another PLA-N vessel through the Arafura Sea at the time of the incident, the department said. The sea lies between the northern coast of Australia and the southern coast of New Guinea.
Relations between Australia and China, its main trading partner, soured after Canberra banned Huawei Technologies Co Ltd from its 5G broadband network in 2018, tightened laws against foreign political interference, and urged an independent investigation into the origins of COVID-19.
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