News24.com | Australia wants ‘full investigation’ into ‘dangerous and reckless’ China laser incident

Australian Prime Minster Scott Morrison

• Prime
  Minster Scott Morrison called for an investigation after a Chinese naval vessel
  pointed a laser at an Australian military aircraft.
• Morrison
  claimed the incident took place so close to Australia’s north coast, it was
  possible the vessel could’ve been seen from the mainland.
• Morrison
  suggested if the situation were reversed and the incident took place in the
  Taiwan Strait, China would have taken exception.

SYDNEY
– Australia’s prime minister said on Monday that a Chinese naval vessel which
pointed a laser at an Australian military aircraft was so close to Australia’s
coast that it possibly could have been seen from the shore, and he called for a
full Chinese investigation.

Scott
Morrison told media his government had not received an explanation from China
over the incident last Thursday, which Australia considered “dangerous and
reckless”.

China
said Australia’s version of events did “not square up with facts” and
was “disinformation”.

The
Chinese navy vessel within Australia’s exclusive economic zone directed a laser
at an Australian military aircraft over Australia’s northern approaches,
illuminating the plane and potentially endangering lives, Australia said on Saturday.

The
P-8A Poseidon – a maritime patrol aircraft – detected a laser emanating from a
People’s Liberation Army – Navy (PLA-N) vessel, the Defence Department said,
releasing photographs of two Chinese vessels sailing close to Australia’s north
coast.

A
Chinese guided missile destroyer and an amphibious transport dock were sailing
east through the Arafura Sea between New Guinea and Australia at the time of
the incident, and later passed through the narrow Torres Strait.

Morrison told reporters in Tasmania on Monday:

Australia
had called through diplomatic and defence channels for “a full
investigation into this event”, he said.

He
compared the incident to a hypothetical situation of an Australian frigate
pointing a laser at Chinese surveillance aircraft in the Taiwan Strait, adding:
“Could you imagine their reaction to that in Beijing?”

China’s
foreign ministry rejected the Australian criticism, saying the ship was abiding
by international law.

“The
Chinese vessel sailing in the high seas complies with relevant international
law and international practice and is fully legitimate and legal,” foreign
ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters at a regular briefing in
Beijing.

“We
urge the Australian side to respect Chinese vessels’ legitimate rights in
accordance with international law in relevant seas and stop maliciously
spreading disinformation in regards to China.”

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