‘Very concerned’: Chinese fighter jet drops flares in front of Australian Navy helicopter
Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson is “very concerned” over an incident on Saturday evening where a Chinese fighter jet dropped flares in front of an Australian Navy helicopter in international waters off the coast of South Korea.
‘Very concerned’: Chinese fighter jet drops flares in front of Australian Navy helicopter
Defence Minister Richard Marles has labelled the incident as unacceptable.
“I’m very concerned,” Mr Paterson told Sky News host Peta Credlin.
“HMAS Hobart was in the Yellow Sea enforcing United Nations sanctions against the North Korean government.
“They were in international waters, not in China’s waters, and the People’s Liberation Army Air Force has taken an extremely dangerous coercive step here and put the lives, again, of Australian serving personnel in danger.
“This should not be allowed to happen, and the Australian government must be incredibly robust in our response.”