The Australian Prime Minister criticized China this Monday for the “unsafe and unprofessional” behavior of one of its warships that used sonar near an Australian frigate, injuring a diver a claim China rejected.
Anthony Albanese said the incident occurred in international waters last Tuesday, but would not say whether he had raised the issue in recent talks with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
However, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said on Saturday he had raised serious concerns with Beijing about the ship’s behavior, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman WuQian said. assured this Monday that Australia’s allegations were “completely false”..
“We urge the Australian side to respect the facts, stop making reckless and irresponsible accusations against China, and do more to build mutual trust and a positive atmosphere for the healthy development of relations between the two countries and the two.” “To create military personnel,” said the spokesman.
PUB • CONTINUE READING BELOW
In the period between the incident and Marles’ statement, the Australian prime minister spoke with Xi on the sidelines of a summit of AsiaPacific leaders in San Francisco in the United States.
“I don’t talk about private meetings that I have with any world leader,” Albanese said, adding, however, that the incident was “regrettable” and that the Australia has “very clearly and very directly” expressed “strong objections” to Chinathrough all appropriate channels and in all forums.”
According to the Australian leader, the incident damaged relations with China as it was a “dangerous, unsafe and unprofessional encounter on the part of Chinese forces.”
Australia’s opposition party accused Albanese of not raising the issue when meeting Xi out of fear it would undermine recent improvements in bilateral relations and said the prime minister’s leadership was “weak.”
Albanese recently became the first Australian leader to visit China in seven years, a sign that relations have improved.
The U.S., Canadian and Australian militaries have repeatedly complained about what they see as dangerous actions by the Chinese navy and air force in the Western Pacific, and several analysts have acknowledged that they fear a collision or other accident could trigger an international incident conflict could lead to an international incident.