Plane had right to watch Chinese ship in laser incident: Morrison

SYDNEY • Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said yesterday that its surveillance plane was doing its job when it was "put under threat" with a laser from a Chinese navy ship, rejecting Beijing's assertion that the plane came too close.

The P-8A Poseidon, a maritime patrol aircraft, detected a laser emanating from a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLA-N) vessel last Thursday, and Australia released photographs of two Chinese vessels sailing close to its north coast.

Yesterday, Australia's defence department said the aircraft dropped sonobuoys, which can help detect submarines, after the laser incident, and that the surveillance devices were not a shipping hazard.

"Our surveillance planes have every right to be in our exclusive economic zone and keeping a close eye on what people are up to," Mr Morrison told reporters. "The fact they were put under threat is extremely disappointing."

In Beijing, when asked about Mr Morrison's comments and if China could confirm that a military-grade laser was used, the Foreign Ministry said Australia had used reconnaissance planes to take "provocative actions" against China many times.

"We firmly oppose this, and urge the Australian side to reflect on itself, not to spread false information, and not to deliberately create trouble," spokesman Wang Wenbin told a regular media briefing.

The Chinese guided missile destroyer and an amphibious transport dock were sailing east through the Arafura Sea between New Guinea and Australia, before passing through the narrow Torres Strait, said Australia's defence department.

Beijing said the Chinese ships had a legal right to be in international waters, which Australia has not disputed.

On Monday, China's Defence Ministry said the plane had dropped a sonobuoy near the Chinese ships, and had flown as close as 4km from the convoy, which it called "provocative and dangerous".

Australia's defence department said the aircraft had acted in a safe manner and that using sonobuoys for surveillance is common practice. "No sonobuoys were used prior to the PLA-N vessel directing its laser at the P-8A aircraft... Some sonobuoys were used after the incident but were dropped in the water a significant distance ahead of the PLA-N vessel."

The devices collect passive acoustic data on ships and submarines, it added. The aircraft was 7.7km from the Chinese naval vessel at the time of the laser incident, it said, and the closest it flew was 3.9km, which it said was standard for a visual inspection of a vessel.

REUTERS