Australia flags China’s unsafe flare drop in aerial encounter

The Chinese jet fired flares on two occasions, Defence Minister Richard Marles said in a television interview with Sky News Australia.

On two occasions, it released flares very close to the P-8,” he said. “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 the government had raised its concerns with the Chinese embassy in Canberra and through the Australian embassy in Beijing.