SYDNEY: China has urged Australia to inform it of navy actions within the contested South China Sea and East China Sea, with a senior Chinese language official cautioning {that a} small incident between militaries may escalate and harm ties.
Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese final week stated a Chinese language warship acted in a harmful method through the use of its sonar throughout an incident with an Australian navy vessel in Japan’s waters that injured a army diver.
The identical Australian vessel, Toowoomba, started joint patrols with the Philippines within the South China Sea for the primary time on Saturday (Nov 25), amid rising tensions between Beijing and Manila over a disputed shoal.
Talking in Sydney on Tuesday, the top of the worldwide division of the Chinese language Communist Get together, Liu Jianchao, stated the sonar incident came about in waters the place there’s a dispute between Japan and China, and questioned why the Australian navy was there.
Liu, who denied China had harmed Australian navy personnel, referred to as for “any form of pre-consultations or notification” to stop misunderstandings from taking place between two militaries.
“Such small incidents may actually escalate if it is not correctly managed,” he stated, referring to public feelings. He was talking in response to questions at an occasion hosted by the Australia-China Relations Institute on the College of Expertise, Sydney.
Liu stated the presence of Australia’s navy vessels gave the impression to be an announcement about China’s insurance policies within the South China Sea. “The rationale why the Australian naval ships had been there was actually to include China – so that’s the message that we now have been getting”, he stated.
He urged the Australian authorities and army to “act with nice prudence on this space”.
