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The Foreign Secretary and opposition leader have pressed a senior Chinese official over the “unsafe and unprofessional” conduct of a People’s Liberation Army warship that clashed with an Australian frigate earlier this month in the East China Sea.
Key points:
Penny Wong and Peter Dutton met with Liu Jianchao, who is visiting Sydney and Canberra.
Earlier this month, a Chinese destroyer deployed its sonar, leaving two Australian divers with “minor injuries.”
A spokesperson says the Foreign Secretary described the incident as “unsafe and unprofessional”.
Penny Wong and Peter Dutton today met with Liu Jianchao, head of the Chinese Communist Party’s International Department, who is visiting Sydney and Canberra following the Prime Minister’s trip to Beijing earlier this month.
Liu’s visit has been overshadowed by controversy over the incident on November 14, when the Chinese destroyer Ningbo approached the Australian frigate HMAS Toowoomba and deployed its sonar while two Australian divers were in the water, leaving them with injuries.” minors”.
A spokesperson for the Foreign Minister said Senator Wong “raised the HMAS Toowoomba incident in her formal meeting with Minister Liu Jianchao”.
“The minister reiterated the Australian Government’s serious concerns following an unsafe and unprofessional interaction with a People’s Liberation Army and Navy destroyer,” they said.
The spokesperson also stressed that the Foreign Minister “sees engagement with senior Chinese officials as an opportunity for dialogue to overcome our differences.”
Yesterday afternoon, Liu defended the conduct of the Chinese destroyer, stating that Australian ships must show “great caution” near China, despite the HMAS Toowoomba being in international waters and under UN Security Council sanctions. United against North Korea.
A spokesman for Dutton said the opposition leader used his meeting with Liu to “raise Australia’s concerns about the Chinese navy’s recent actions in the strongest possible terms” and “requested that his concerns be conveyed directly to the president ( Xi Jinping).”
“The use of helmet-mounted sonar near Australian Navy personnel was unacceptable and unprovoked. It was fortunate that no lives had been lost,” they said.
“(Mr Dutton) called on China to respect international law, including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, and to work to uphold peace and stability in the region.”
Both Senator Wong and Mr Dutton also used the meeting with Mr Liu to raise China’s remaining trade restrictions on Australian products, human rights in China and Dr Yang Hengjun, who remains in detention.
Wong and Dutton press senior Chinese official over ‘unsafe and unprofessional’ conduct on warships