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On November 18, the Australian Government expressed deep concern after an “unsafe and unprofessional” interaction between a Chinese warship and an Australian naval vessel.
According to Reuters, Defense Minister Richard Marles said the incident occurred while the long-range destroyer HMAS Toowoomba was conducting a diving operation in Japan's exclusive economic zone on November 14 to remove fishing nets from its propellers.
“While diving operations were underway, a PLA-N destroyer (DDG-139) operating in the vicinity approached HMAS Toowoomba,” Mr Marles said.
Despite the Australian ship notifying the Chinese ship of the diving activity and asking them to keep their distance, the destroyer approached “at a much closer range” and turned on its sonar system, forcing the divers to leave the water. Minister Marles said medical assessments showed the divers suffered minor injuries, possibly caused by the destroyer’s sonar.
The Chinese Embassy in Australia has not commented on the incident.
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