The acting prime minister, Richard Marles, on Saturday said the Australian government had expressed “serious concerns” to Chinese officials after the HMAS Toowoomba encountered a People’s Liberation Army-Navy destroyer on Tuesday.
The Toowoomba was in international waters in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, having worked to enforce United Nations sanctions, and was on its way to a scheduled port visit when fishing nets became entangled around its propellers.
The ship stopped so naval divers could clear the nets and its crew communicated what it was doing through the usual maritime channels, Marles said in a statement.
The Chinese vessel acknowledged the message but came even closer, and was soon after detected operating its hull-mounted sonar, posing a risk to the Australian divers’ safety, Marles said.
The defence force has for decades undertaken surveillance in the region and does so in accordance with international law, Marles said.
On Saturday, Albanese said he witnessed US president Joe Biden involved in a “warm discussion” with Xi during the APEC summit in San Francisco.
The original article contains 433 words, the summary contains 169 words. Saved 61%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!
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The acting prime minister, Richard Marles, on Saturday said the Australian government had expressed “serious concerns” to Chinese officials after the HMAS Toowoomba encountered a People’s Liberation Army-Navy destroyer on Tuesday.
The Toowoomba was in international waters in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, having worked to enforce United Nations sanctions, and was on its way to a scheduled port visit when fishing nets became entangled around its propellers.
The ship stopped so naval divers could clear the nets and its crew communicated what it was doing through the usual maritime channels, Marles said in a statement.
The Chinese vessel acknowledged the message but came even closer, and was soon after detected operating its hull-mounted sonar, posing a risk to the Australian divers’ safety, Marles said.
The defence force has for decades undertaken surveillance in the region and does so in accordance with international law, Marles said.
On Saturday, Albanese said he witnessed US president Joe Biden involved in a “warm discussion” with Xi during the APEC summit in San Francisco.
The original article contains 433 words, the summary contains 169 words. Saved 61%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!