During a television interview on Nine Network's Today Show on Tuesday, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese claimed it was unacceptable for the Chinese military to put Australian defense personnel at risk in international airspace while taking part in an operation to enforce United Nations sanctions on the DPRK. 

This follows an incident when a Chinese fighter jet intercepted an Australian military helicopter over the Yellow Sea. 

Defense Minister Richard Marles said on Monday that a Chinese Air Force J-10 jet dropped flares several hundred meters ahead of an Australian MH60R Seahawk helicopter on a routine flight last weekend in the area while it was taking part of said operation.

The Department of Defense confirmed that no one was hurt but risks were there.

"This issue, we have made public in order to be able to speak out very clearly and unequivocally that this behavior is unacceptable," Albanese said, noting that "in international waters, international airspace, and they're doing work to ensure that the sanctions that the world has imposed through the United Nations on North Korea, due to their intransient and reckless behavior, are enforced."

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"They shouldn't have been at any risk," he added, stressing that Australia expects a clarification from China regarding last weekend's incident. 

AUKUS and China

Australia signed a pact called AUKUS with the US and the UK in an attempt by Western countries to contain China and its growing influence in the Pacific. 

Australia set on February 20 a decade-long plan to double its fleet of surface combatant ships from 11 to 26 and enhance defense spending by an additional $7 billion amid the fast-paced Asia-Pacific arms race. 

Previously, China labeled the pact as a violation of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, after which Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Mao Ning said, “Despite being called a 'trilateral security partnership,' AUKUS is essentially about fueling military confrontation through military collaboration.”
 
“It is apparently driven by Cold War thinking. It creates additional nuclear proliferation risks, exacerbates the arms race in the Asia-Pacific, and hurts regional peace and stability. China is deeply concerned and firmly opposed to it," Mao stressed.

China warned that AUKUS risked setting off an arms race and accused the three countries of setting back nuclear nonproliferation efforts. "We urge the US, the UK, and Australia to abandon the Cold War mentality and zero-sum games, honor international obligations in good faith and do more things that are conducive to regional peace and stability," Mao told reporters.

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