SYDNEY: China, clearly hoping that a change of government here would make Australia more malleable, must be gnashing its collective teeth in the wake of a sharp Aussie backlash to a “dangerous” incident over the South China Sea, breakingdefense.com has said.

The incident in question happened nearly two weeks ago when a Chinese fighter jet flew close to an Australian p-8 sub hunter and released chaff, some of which was sucked into the big and relatively slow aircraft’s engines.

At the time, neither China nor Australia spoke publicly about the dust up, the report said.

But then on Sunday, the Australian Defense Ministry issued a statement detailing the incident. That was followed by a formal diplomatic protest, which the Australian Labor Party government made public. It wasn’t just through a press release; Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said.

And today, Albanese made sharper remarks, saying Australia regards “the actions of China in this area as being an act of aggression and a dangerous act against the Australian airforce which was conducting aerial surveillance in accordance with international norms.”

China struck back late today, according to breakingdefense.

“We urge Australia to respect China’s national security interests and major concerns, and to be cautious with its words and deeds so as to avoid a miscalculation that could cause serious consequences (emphasis added),” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian said.

The Chinese pilot acted safely and in compliance with international law, he said.

Australia’s new defense minister, who is also deputy prime minister, called the Chinese maneuver “very dangerous.”

Richard Marles on Sunday described the incident vividly, saying the J-16 fighter flew next to the P-8 and released flares.

(Inputs from breakingdefense.com)