China and Australia have traded accusations over an incident Australia said involved a Chinese jet releasing flares.Published On 22 Oct 202522 Oct 2025Click here to share on social mediashare2ShareChina has accused Australia of covering up an incursion into Chinese airspace in response to Canberra’s earlier claims about an “unsafe and unprofessional” incident involving the two nations’ military aircraft over the South China Sea.Chinese Ministry of National Defence spokesperson Jiang Bin told reporters on Tuesday that China had lodged a “solemn” complaint with Australia over what he said was Australia’s “attempts to cover up the egregious illegal intrusion of its military aircraft into Chinese airspace”.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listJiang claimed that a statement issued by Australia’s Defence Force on Monday “shifts the blame onto China”, and called on Australia to “restrain the actions of its frontline naval and air forces, and avoid damaging the relations between China and Australia”.The response from China’s Defence Ministry came a day after Australia’s Ministry of Defence issued a statement about an “unsafe and unprofessional” incident on Sunday, in which it said a Chinese Air Force fighter aircraft “released flares in close proximity” to an Australian Air Force plane conducting a “maritime surveillance patrol in the South China Sea”.“For decades, the [Australian Defence Force] has undertaken maritime surveillance activities in the region and does so in accordance with international law,” the Australian statement added.Australia’s statement did not specify where in the South China Sea the alleged incident took place, whereas Jiang claimed the incident occurred in airspace over “China’s Xisha Islands”, Beijing’s name for the Paracel Islands. Advertisement The Paracel group of islands is also claimed by Vietnam and Taiwan.China and Australia traded similar accusations regarding another incident in February this year.China claims almost all of the South China Sea, despite an international ruling from an international tribunal at The Hague in 2016 that concluded its claim has no legal basis.The busy waterway is one of sever …
