#头条创作挑战赛#
Text/Sister Xiong
The Australian Navy flaunted its might at China's doorstep, and even had the face to declare that it was "completely unacceptable".
According to Australian media ABC News, on May 6, Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles issued a statement condemning China. He said that at about 7:30 p.m. last Saturday, a "Sea Hawk" helicopter carried by the destroyer "Hobart" of the Australian Navy encountered a J-10 fighter jet of the Chinese Air Force in the Yellow Sea. The J-10 dropped tracer shells (a type of infrared jamming bomb) about 300 meters in front of the Australian helicopter and about 60 meters above it, and the Australian Navy helicopter was forced to urgently avoid being hit. The Australian side claimed that the helicopter was not affected and no crew members were injured, but the incident was a "very serious incident, unsafe and completely unacceptable".
(Data map: PLA fighter jets release tracer bombs)
(J-10 fleet releases infrared jamming bombs)
(Australian Seahawk helicopter landed on the destroyer "Hobart")
At present, the Chinese side has not responded to the Australian side's statement. But even if this is true, the truth is definitely on China's side. While Australia argues that it is enforcing United Nations sanctions against North Korea and that it is in so-called "international waters" in the Yellow Sea, even on the high seas does not mean that Australia, an extraterritorial country, can conduct military activities at will in waters on China's doorstep, especially when such activities may threaten China's national security. Under such circumstances, China naturally has the right to take necessary defensive measures to monitor and even control Australia's military activities.
(The area where the incident occurred claimed by the Australian side)
(Data map: Australian Navy destroyer "Hobart")
Moreover, according to China's usual practice, if it is necessary for the J-10 fighter to launch tracer bombs, then the Australian military aircraft should have been extremely close to China's airspace, and I am afraid that it has ignored other actions of the Chinese fighter jets, such as shouting and accompanying flights. Such an attitude can almost be considered provocative. The Australian side has never mentioned its own mistakes and made all kinds of accusations against China, which is a typical reversal of black and white.
In recent years, Australia has often appeared in East Asia under the pretext of "implementing UN resolutions", and has repeatedly reversed black and white to make unwarranted accusations against China. For example, at the end of last year, they claimed that a diver on the Australian frigate "Toowoomba" was irradiated by the PLA destroyer "Ningbo" using pulsed sonar in the East China Sea, resulting in injuries to the diver. For this, the Australian side accused the PLA of "unsafe and unprofessional" interaction with Australian warships.
However, after the incident, Senior Colonel Wu Qian, spokesman for the Ministry of Defense of the Mainland, made it clear that the Australian side's remarks were completely inconsistent with the facts, and that the PLA destroyer "Ningbo" was tracking, monitoring, identifying, and verifying the Australian warship in accordance with laws and regulations, kept a safe distance from the Australian warship, and did not take any action that might affect the Australian military's diving operations.
(The Australian Navy's "Toowoomba" frigate that once "touched porcelain" in the East China Sea)
It can be seen from this that the Australian military has long been a habitual offender. They have tried to challenge China's sovereignty more than once, and have repeatedly found excuses for their own military provocations, which is truly "completely unacceptable".
Previously, Australia had already suffered in order to act as a pawn of the United States in provoking China. Economically, their exports to China have fallen to a freezing point, and the market share of red wine, lobster, timber and other products in China has been almost eaten away by other countries. Militarily, in 2022, the Australian side hyped that an Australian Air Force P-8A was released by the PLA's J-16 fighter jet in the South China Sea, which caused the crew to be so frightened that nearly a year after the incident, the crew of the plane still needed to be treated by a psychiatrist. These are all real losses that Australians have suffered.
Recently, the Australian government seems to have begun to realize that confrontation with China is not in its national interest, so the Australian side has adjusted its China policy, which has also led to some improvement in China-Australia relations. Against this backdrop, the Australian military should contribute to the stability of the bilateral relationship, rather than create trouble, which is the best decision in the interests of the two peoples, especially Australia's own interests. Obviously, the current Australian defense minister needs to have a clear understanding of this.