Kineserne er bøller - Hendelse over internasjonalt farvann - Defence Connect

 

Trump har lært mye av kineserne: Always blame the other party. Jagerflyet følte seg neppe truet av helikopteret så dette var ren harassment. Dette likner forøvrig på russernes opptreden over Svartehavet i internasjonalt luftrom. Da fikk en flyger medalje for å ha skapt så mye turbulens for MQ-9`en at den kom ut av kontroll og havarerte.(Red,)

Defence clams up over Seahawk, Chinese jet incident

GEOPOLITICS & POLICY

16 MAY 2024

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By: Robert Dougherty

 

HMAS Brisbane’s MH-60R Seahawk helicopter “Chaos” fires flares while transiting to Malaysia for Exercise Bersama Lima 23. Photo: LSEW Hannah Linsley

The Department of Defence has gone into full radio silence following an altercation between a Royal Australian Navy Seahawk helicopter and Chinese J-10 fighter jet earlier this month.

The incident initially made international headlines when a People’s Liberation Army Navy jet intercepted and dropped flares into the flight path of an MH-60R Seahawk helicopter on 4 May.

The helicopter had been deployed by Hobart Class Destroyer HMAS Hobart during Operation Argo while operating in international waters and enforcing United Nations Security Council sanctions against North Korea.

Defence has since outlined that it is unable to provide any physical confirmation of the incident such as footage, still imagery or audio records.

Both Australian and People’s Republic of China officials have laid blame for the incident with the other party.

The latest cone of silence from Defence follows a similar response to an incident in November last year when Royal Australian Navy divers were injured by a People’s Liberation Army-Navy destroyer in international waters.

The crew of Anzac Class frigate HMAS Toowoomba suffered minor injuries after being exposed to sonar pulses from hull-mounted sonar on a Chinese destroyer operating within international waters, inside of Japan’s Exclusive Economic Zone, on 14 November.

HMAS Toowoomba had been undertaking operations in support of United Nations-sanctioned enforcement when it stopped to begin diving operations in order to clear fishing nets that had become entangled around its propellers.

While diving operations were underway, a PLA-N destroyer (DDG-139) operating in the vicinity closed towards HMAS Toowoomba. HMAS Toowoomba communicated its intention to conduct diving operations on normal maritime channels and used internationally recognised signals. It advised the PLA-N destroyer that diving operations were being conducted and requested the ship keep clear.

The Chinese vessel approached at a closer range and was detected operating its hull-mounted sonar in an unsafe and unprofessional manner that posed a risk to the safety of the Australian divers who were forced to exit the water.

Footage was not released of that incident either and no tangible response was put forward by Defence or the federal government despite minor injuries being sustained by the divers who were subjected to the sonar pulses from the Chinese destroyer.

While it’s not uncommon for the Department of Defence to wait for incidents in the South China Sea to “blow over”, other countries such as the United States of America have been more vocal in capturing and exposing dangerous altercations with the PRC in the region.

Late last year, the US Department of Defense (DOD) declassified 15 recent incidents of risky operational behaviour by the People’s Liberation Army against US aircraft over the East and South China Sea.

The collection of declassified images and videos depicted dangerous manoeuvres including close approaches at high speed, release of flares, and reckless manoeuvres taken by PLA Airforce fighter jets as they intercept US aircraft operating lawfully in international airspace.

The release of the declassified incidents was made ahead of a US 2023 report on military and security developments involving the People’s Republic of China (China Military Power Report).

The altercations were described by the US DOD as “unsafe, unprofessional, and other behaviours that seek to impinge upon the ability of the United States and other nations to safely conduct operations where international law allows”.