The amphibious dock landing ship Wuzhishan (Hull 987) attached to a landing ship flotilla with the navy under the PLA Southern Theater Command performs tactical maneuver in waters of the South China Sea during a maritime training exercise on November 18, 2020. The exercise lasted four days, focusing on 10 subjects including comprehensive defense, Landing Craft Air Cushion's (LCAC) transfer, visit, board, search and seizure (VBSS) operation, and live-fire operations. (eng.chinamil.com.cn/Photo by Liu Jian)

 
Australia's accusation that a Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy flotilla pointed a laser at an Australian patrol aircraft is false, and it was the Australian aircraft that flew close to the Chinese vessels and provocatively dropped sonobuoys, Chinese authorities said on Monday.

Australia's statement is completely inconsistent with the facts, Senior Colonel Tan Kefei, a spokesperson of China's Ministry of National Defense, said in a statement on Monday.

The Australian P-8 anti-submarine warfare patrol aircraft operated near the Chinese vessel flotilla with a minimal distance of only four kilometers, Tan said.

During the entire course, the Chinese vessels maintained safe, standard and professional actions, which conform to the relevant international law and international practice, Tan said.

On the other hand, the Australian aircraft was very close to the Chinese vessels and dropped sonobuoys near them, Tan said, citing photos taken on board of the Chinese ships.

These intentional, provocative moves could have easily led to a misunderstanding and misjudgment, and bring threat to both sides, Tan said, noting that Australia also intentionally spread false information and made false accusations about China.

Sonobuoys are an anti-submarine expendable sonar system of the P-8A aircraft but can also be used to gather performance data of the PLA vessels when placed in this configuration, a Chinese expert close to the PLA told the Global Times on Monday.

"This is not a friendly move and could lead to misjudgment," the expert said.

Another Chinese military expert who requested anonymity told the Global Times on Monday that if Australia's aircraft only wanted to monitor the PLA vessels, they did not need to be as close as four kilometers, and it was only natural for the Chinese warships to raise the alert in this case.

Even if the Chinese vessels did use a laser, it likely came from a laser rangefinder used to measure the distance between the ship and the aircraft, the expert said, noting that this is a short process and will not do harm to humans.

"We demand Australia to immediately stop the provocative, dangerous actions like this, stop groundlessly blaming China, so as to avoid affecting the overall bilateral and mil-to-mil ties," Tan said.

Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson at China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also made similar remarks at a regular press conference on Monday when asked about a protest by Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison.

As confirmed by relevant Chinese authorities, the information released by Australia is false, Wang said.

The Chinese vessels were sailing in international waters, conforming to the relevant international law and common international practice, Wang said, noting that it was completely legitimate.

"We urge Australia to respect Chinese vessels' lawful rights to sail in related sea regions in accordance to the international law and stop spreading false information related to China malevolently," Wang said.

Australia's Department of Defense claimed on Saturday that an Australian P-8A maritime patrol aircraft detected a laser emanating from one of the two PLA Navy vessels, illuminating the aircraft while in flight over Australia's northern approaches on Thursday.

The Australian press release accused the illumination as a serious safety incident, saying the move was "unprofessional and unsafe," and said it could have "endangered the safety and lives of the Australian personnel."

Chinese military analysts said that Australia's accusation only exposes the Australian aircraft's dangerous and provocative close-in reconnaissance on the Chinese ships in the first place, and it is an attempt to throw mud at China when the PLA has been sending assistance to other countries in the region like Tonga and the Solomon Islands, helping them overcome disaster and the epidemic.