Acting prime minister criticises Chinese ship’s ‘unsafe and unprofessional conduct’ after Australian sailors had requested it stay clear

The acting prime minister, Richard Marles, on Saturday said the Australian government had expressed “serious concerns” to Chinese officials after Australia’s HMAS Toowoomba encountered a People’s Liberation Army-Navy destroyer.

The Toowoomba was in international waters in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, having worked to enforce United Nations sanctions, and was on its way to a scheduled port visit when fishing nets became entangled around its propellers.

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    8 months ago

    Pressure on PM to front up over Chinese naval incident

    The Coalition is pressing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to reveal if he personally challenged China’s President Xi Jinping about injuries inflicted on Australian seamen by a People’s Liberation Army warship last week […]

    The government is now facing criticism for waiting until the end of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting in San Francisco to reveal the incident, in which a Chinese navy destroyer used sonar close to Australian divers causing them to cease repair operations and suffer minor injuries.

    Defence Minister Richard Marles issued a statement just after Mr Albanese finished addressing the media in the US and ahead of his flight back to Australia, ensuring the prime minister did not have to answer questions hot on the heels of meeting with Mr Xi on the sidelines of the summit.