Australia accuses China of intimidation after shining laser beam on plane

Australian Prime Minister Morrison accuses China of bullying practices. According to the Prime Minister, a Chinese navy vessel aimed a laser beam at an Australian military aircraft.

The surveillance plane, a Boeing P-8A Poseidon, was hit by a Chinese navy laser on Thursday, according to the Australian military. The plane was flying north of Australia at the time. In a statement, the Ministry of Defense said the action could have led to life-threatening situations as people could have been blinded.

“It’s nothing but an act of intimidation,” the prime minister told reporters. “One that was not provoked by us and that is unfair. Australia will never accept such harassment.”

bullying behavior

Defense Secretary Dutton said it was a “very aggressive act” that happened in Australia’s economic zone. “I think China hopes nobody talks about this kind of aggressive acts and intimidation,” he told Sky News. “We see different forms of it in the region and in many parts of the world.”

Relations between Australia and China have cooled considerably in recent years, even though they are important trading partners. Australia has, among other things, excluded the Chinese telecommunications company Huawei from building the 5G mobile network. Laws were also passed against foreign interference.

Australians have also infuriated China by being the first to call for an independent investigation into the origin of the coronavirus, which was first identified in the Chinese city of Wuhan.