Chinese Fighter Jet Fires Flares at Australian Patrol Aircraft in South China Sea Confrontation
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A Chinese military jet released flares dangerously close to an Australian surveillance aircraft over the South China Sea on Sunday, prompting Canberra to lodge formal protests with Beijing and label the incident “unsafe and unprofessional” in what marks the latest flashpoint in regional military tensions.
The People’s Liberation Army-Air Force Su-35 fighter jet fired flares on two separate occasions in close proximity to a Royal Australian Air Force P-8 maritime patrol aircraft conducting routine surveillance in international airspace, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles told reporters Monday. The Australian crew landed safely and the aircraft sustained no damage, but officials deemed the Chinese pilot’s actions dangerous enough to trigger diplomatic intervention.
“On two occasions it released flares very close to the P-8 and it’s really that; the proximity at which the flares were released, which has given us cause to deem this unsafe and unprofessional,” Marles said during a Sky News interview. “At a distance it can be a means by which aircraft do communicate and I guess make a point. But if it is very close then it can be dangerous.”
Australia has lodged complaints through the Chinese embassy in Canberra and through its own diplomatic mission in Beijing, following what Marles described as established government protocols for such incidents.
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Flares Released at Hazardous Distance
The confrontation occurred Sunday afternoon as the P-8 Poseidon conducted maritime surveillance over international waters in the South China Sea, where the majority of Australian trade passes through contested shipping lanes. The Chinese Su-35 fast jet initially approached the Australian aircraft in what Marles characterized as routine military-to-military interaction.
Flare releases between military aircraft can constitute standard communication methods at safe distances. The incident crossed into dangerous territory when the Chinese pilot released flares close enough to potentially enter the P-8’s engines or mechanisms, according to Marles.
“Close enough so if the wrong draught or wind happens, it could have got into the plane’s mechanisms,” Marles confirmed when pressed by Sky News host Tom Connell on the specific hazards involved.
Australian defense officials declined to specify the exact distance between the aircraft and the flares, but Marles emphasized the P-8’s vulnerability due to its size and limited maneuverability as a large jet aircraft.
“We’re talking about a P-8 aircraft. So it’s not a— I mean, it is a large jet aircraft which is not particularly maneuverable in an instant, and the proximity of these flares meant that it was unsafe,” Marles said during a separate doorstop interview in Canberra.
Transparent Response Protocol
The Australian government has implemented consistent procedures for handling unsafe military interactions since taking office, Marles said. The protocols include immediate public disclosure of incidents deemed unsafe and unprofessional, combined with formal diplomatic representations to Beijing.
“We’ve got a very clear procedure in these events now, which is to firstly make it public and call it out,” Marles told Sky News. “We assess all the interactions. There are lots of interactions, which is fine and we get that there will be. What we’ve always said to China is that we want those interactions to be safe and professional. Where we deem them to be both unsafe and unprofessional, we make it public.”
Marles emphasized that Australian and Chinese defense forces conduct numerous interactions in the South China Sea, with most occurring safely and professionally. He declined to speculate on whether the incident’s timing connected to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s scheduled meeting with U.S. President Donald Trump, noting similar encounters have occurred previously.
“This has clearly happened before, so it’s on the first occasion on which we’ve seen this, and that’s why we have a very set procedure that we go through in instances of this kind,” Marles said.
Strategic Imperatives in Contested Waters
Australia considers its South China Sea surveillance operations essential to national security and economic interests, with officials emphasizing the patrols assert freedom of navigation principles rather than serving gratuitous purposes.
“Most of our trade, literally most of Australia’s trade goes through the South China Sea,” Marles said. “And the rules-based order applying there is fundamental to our national interest. So that’s why we are there.”
The deputy prime minister stressed that Australia will continue conducting defense operations in international airspace and waters despite unsafe interactions, prioritizing both crew safety and maintaining the rules-based international order.
“We will continue to operate our Defence Force in a manner which asserts the rules based order in the South China Sea and in international waters and in international airspace that is critically important to Australia’s national interest, and in doing that, we will always have the utmost regard for the safety of Australia’s Defence Force men and women,” Marles said.
PNG Defense Alliance Formalized
The South China Sea incident coincided with the 31st Australia-PNG Ministerial Forum, held Monday under the newly ratified Pukpuk Treaty that establishes Papua New Guinea as Australia’s formal defense ally.
“Papua New Guinea is now an Australian ally and we are an ally of PNG,” Marles said. “It is very clear that there is a choice being made here by Papua New Guinea in terms of where it sees its security lying and that’s with Australia.”
The alliance agreement, signed two weeks prior to Monday’s forum, includes provisions for direct recruitment of Papua New Guineans into the Australian Defence Force. Both countries share an ambition to reach 10,000 Papua New Guinean personnel in the ADF over several years, though officials emphasized this represents a long-term goal rather than an immediate cap.
“When those people are in the Australian Defence Force, they’re fully fledged members of the ADF and that’s where their call is,” Marles told Sky News. “They will become Australian citizens, that’s part of the process here and it’s important that we have a defence force made up of Australian citizens.”
The recruitment program includes extensive pre-entry training that will also benefit PNG’s own defense force by creating a trained personnel cohort, even among candidates who don’t ultimately join the ADF.
“The process that we’ll go through here, which is going to involve a lot of training of people before they enter to make them— if you like, to enable them to be ready to join the Defence Force, will also be really good in terms of building that cohort of people to enter the PNG Defence Force as well,” Marles said.
Vanuatu Security Talks Continue
Australia remains in active negotiations with Vanuatu over a separate security agreement, with Marles confirming the government maintains flexibility on deal terms after Vanuatu expressed concerns about certain provisions.
“We’re working on it. It is— it is an agreement and by that I mean we are working together to reach an agreement,” Marles said when asked whether Australia would modify terms to accommodate Vanuatu’s concerns about accepting infrastructure spending from other countries.
The Pacific nation lacks a defense force, creating different parameters for any security pact compared to the PNG alliance. Marles expressed confidence the final agreement would prove transformational for bilateral relations.
AUKUS Program Progress
The deputy prime minister addressed ongoing questions about the AUKUS submarine program, acknowledging that congressional approval and presidential sign-off in 2031 remain necessary milestones for the U.S. to deliver Virginia-class submarines to Australia.
Australia currently has approximately 200 workers training at Pearl Harbor by year’s end, currently helping maintain and deploy U.S. Navy Virginia-class submarines to increase American fleet availability while preparing to service Australia’s future submarine cohort.
“We are working together to achieve the space for America to provide us with a Virginia class submarine in the early 2030s,” Marles said. “When you look at what we are doing in terms of the opportunities to sustain their submarines and in terms of production, we’re confident it will well exceed what is required in order to create the space for the sale to occur.”
The developments underscore Australia’s complex regional security environment as it navigates Pacific alliance-building, freedom of navigation assertions in contested waters, and long-term strategic military partnerships with the United States. The South China Sea incident highlights ongoing tensions between Australia and China despite both nations conducting routine military interactions in the region’s international airspace and waters.
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