Chinese military video appears to show ‘dangerous’ intercept of Australian aircraft over South China Sea

The People’s Liberation Army has released video of a 2022 incident that appears to show a Chinese J-16 fighter intercepting an “enemy” Australian P-8 Poseidon surveillance aircraft while it was conducting a routine patrol in international airspace.

During the encounter over the South China Sea, the PLA aircraft flew closely alongside the RAAF plane firing flares, before cutting in front of it and releasing “chaff” into its flight path, which included aluminium fragments that were sucked into the P-8’s engine.

More than two years after the “dangerous” intercept, the Chinese military broadcast the video of the events as part of a PLA documentary in which the J-16 pilot described “facing a strong enemy, a tough opponent” and not being “afraid”.

According to the PLA propaganda film shown on Chinese state television in recent days, a “flashing infrared bomb” was also fired towards the Australian aircraft, although the ABC has been unable to verify this claim.

Australia’s defence department said it was aware of the “unverified” video that purported to show the 2022 incident and emphasised that it had undertaken maritime surveillance activities in the region for decades “in accordance with international law”.

Chinese pilot describes action

In the Chinese-language video, the PLA airman discussed how he went “to the side of [the RAAF aircraft] and lean forward a little bit, let it see me directly”.

“I gradually get closer to it, force it away from our territorial line,” he said.

“After I did that, it changed direction, it continues to hover, it’s coming back towards our territorial waters.

“Facing a strong enemy, a tough opponent, you can’t be afraid — beat the enemy from the sky above, I have a better understanding of that.”

The PLA pilot then quoted a military adage — “The braver of the two who meet on the narrow road will win” — before he declared: “We must show our swords to the enemy.”

Shortly after the incident, which took place on May 26, 2022, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the Chinese military’s actions and revealed that Australia had “expressed those concerns through appropriate channels”.

Flight tracking data obtained by the ABC in 2022 revealed the RAAF aircraft involved was P-8 Poseidon A47-008, which departed the Clark Air Base in the Philippines towards international waters in the South China Sea.

Defence won’t say if video is authentic

The Australian government has stopped short of condemning China’s decision to release the footage. 

“We have interactions often with the PLA Navy, we do have a dialogue with China, where there have been incidents that have been unsafe and unprofessional we’ve called them out,” Defence Minister Richard Marles said. 

Earlier a defence spokesperson declined to say whether the department believed the newly released video to be authentic, but stressed in a statement that “Australia expects all countries to operate their militaries in a professional and safe manner”.

“Defence is aware of unverified social media posts purporting to show a People’s Liberation Army — Air Force fighter jet intercepting a P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft,” the statement read.

“The Australian Defence Force has, for decades, undertaken maritime surveillance activities in the region and does so in accordance with international law.

“These activities form part of Australia’s longstanding contribution to regional security and stability.

“The ADF will continue to exercise the right to freedom of navigation and overflight in international waters and airspace in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.”

Shadow defence minister Andrew Hastie said if the PLA video was authentic, it showed just how fortunate Australian personnel were to avoid injury or possibly death during the 2022 midair encounter.

“This conduct was highly dangerous, highly risky, and could’ve resulted in catastrophic damage to our aircraft and indeed endangered the lives of our personnel,” he said.

“This is the sort of behaviour that must be condemned, not just military to military but at the highest level, by our prime minister when he meets with President Xi, he should make a point of raising this issue when he has face-to-face interactions.

“This is not the actions of a friend, this is not the language of a friend, in fact, it just demonstrates to the Australian people why we have a trust deficit with Beijing.

“If this is how they treat their friends, I’d hate to think of the way they treat their enemies.”