Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said China’s denial of the sonar incident was “propaganda and we shouldn’t abide it for a second”.
“It’s exactly what happens in relation to Japan, in relation to the Philippines, and in relation to other countries in the region,” Mr Dutton said. “The fact is that there is aggressive behaviour taking place and our country should call it out.”
China’s defence ministry denied carrying out any activities that might have affected Australian diving operations: “China kept a safe distance from the Australian ship,” a statement from its defence ministry said.
Defence Minister Richard Marles said the sonar was activated despite the Chinese ship receiving multiple warnings that the personnel were operating below the surface.
This is the best summary I could come up with:
HMAS Toowoomba had been operating in the East China Sea, within Japan’s exclusive economic zone, in support of a United Nations mission to enforce sanctions when the incident occurred.
Naval divers were working to clear fishing nets from the Australian frigate’s propellers when the Chinese warship began operating its hull-mounted sonar.
Soon after, it was detected operating its hull-mounted sonar in a manner that posed a risk to the safety of the Australian divers who were forced to exit the water," the minister said in a statement.
Since Labor’s election, diplomatic communications have restarted, trade bans have lifted, and earlier this month Mr Albanese became the first prime minister since 2016 to officially visit Beijing.
Chinese Defence Ministry spokesman Wu Qian, speaking to China Daily, labelled Australia’s comments on the sonar incident as “completely untrue”.
Wu went on to urge Australia to “stop making reckless and irresponsible accusations against China” and “to create a positive atmosphere for the sound development of relations between the two countries and two militaries”.
The original article contains 493 words, the summary contains 168 words. Saved 66%. I’m a bot and I’m open source!