Beijing’s bid to establish dominance in the Indo-Pacific continued earlier this week angering Australia with whom it has already soured ties over trade disputes. Australian PM Scott Morrison highlighted that Beijing should fully investigate and reveal the reason behind why a Chinese naval vessel pointed a laser at an Australian defence plane last week.
Maritime tensions between both nations rose after the People’s Liberation Army – Navy (PLA-N) vessel was spotted shining a laser light on an Australian P-8A Poseidon – a maritime patrol aircraft, news agency Reuters reported. The Australian defence ministry also shared two photographs of the Chinese vessel.
Further it was found that a Chinese guided missile destroyer and an amphibious transport dock were also sailing east through the Arafura Sea between New Guinea and Australia, close enough to be spotted from the Australian mainland. According to a report by news agency The Conversation, the Chinese vessels sailed through the Torres Strait, close to the northernmost tip of Queensland.
Along with demanding an investigation from Beijing, Australian PM Morrison also said that it was an act of intimidation. Australian defence minister Peter Dutton condemned the act and termed it an example of ‘Chinese bullying’.
Why is it provocative?
The report by news agency the Conversation also points out why modern frigates, guided missile-destroyers have lasers and why they are used. The report outlines that military grade lasers are used to determine the firing range and designate a target before actually firing a weapon and are shone usually on dummy targets.
This is widely acknowledged as a hostile act and is short of crossing the threshold of war or an open conflict. Laser pointing is separated from live machine gun or missile firing by a split second and anyone subjected to these beams will have a nerve-wracking experience.
Why Is China Doing This Now?
China’s actions come at a time when Australia heads into polls. This calls for a bipartisan approach to the entire situation. It also can be seen as a retaliatory move to deter Australia from asserting its freedom of navigation rights in the South China Sea. China has done the same to ships from the US, France and aircrafts from other nations.
China also could be doing this as Quad and AUKUS partnerships become stronger showing a united opposition to China’s roguish attempts to rewrite global order and destabilise peace in the Indo-Pacific region.
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