Australian PM Knew of CCP Sonar Attack Before Meeting Xi

A People's Liberation Army-Navy (PLA-N) Luyang-class guided missile destroyer leaves the Torres Strait and enters the Coral Sea on Feb. 18, 2022. (Australian Defence Department)

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese knew of an incident in which a Chinese warship had used its sonar against Australian Navy divers before he met Chinese Communist Party (CCP) leader Xi Jinping in San Francisco, emails released to the ABC reveal. They were obtained under Freedom of Information laws (FOI).

Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Assistant Secretary Edwina Stevens wrote on Nov. 15 that the head of Military Strategic Commitments had provided her an outline of what had happened about 24 hours prior.

Her email states that while in the East China Sea, “The HMAS Toowoomba was en route to Japan ... It was trailed by a PLA (People’s Liberation Army) warship. [The Australian ship’s] underside became tangled in some fishing nets and debris so it had to stop to clear.

“To do so, it gave all appropriate signals, by radio and flag ... The PLA craft acknowledged but did not stop at an appropriate distance and, when the divers were in the water, activated a [water] sonar, at least twice—it did not stop when HMAS Toowoomba requested it to.”

‘Acoustic Transmissions’ Detected

In documents labelled “not for public release,” the Defence Department explained HMAS Toowoomba had requested the PLA destroyer stay 3 nautical miles (5.5 kilometres) away from the Australian ship.

Instead, the CCP vessel came within 1.4 kilometres and HMAS Toowoomba detected “acoustic transmissions, correlated to the PLA-N destroyer’s hull-mounted sonar.”

The emails report that divers suffered “mild headaches and eardrum irritation,” that all received “appropriate medical care and treatment,” and that “current medical advice indicates no long-term health impacts are expected.”

The emails also confirm the offices of both Foreign Minister Penny Wong and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles were also informed.

But the prime minister evaded the question of whether or not he raised the incident with Xi when the two met in San Francisco later that week.

In response to questions, he said Australia has raised the incident “very clearly ... in the appropriate way” through diplomatic channels.

“I don’t talk about private meetings on the sidelines, discussions I have with any world leader … that’s how you keep communications open,” Mr. Albanese said.

‘Flagrant Disrespect’ From Beijing: Opposition

Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson said Australians would expect the prime minister would raise the incident “robustly” with Xi.

“The relationship we should be seeking with the Chinese government is one of mutual respect. And they’ve shown flagrant disrespect for Australia and our service personnel by their behaviour and if there are no consequences for them, you can bet they'll do it again and again and again,” Senator Paterson said.

“It does seem suspicious to me that the prime minister and his government waited to reveal this until after he‘d given his press conference at APEC and after he’d boarded the plane home. It seemed clear to me that he didn’t want to be asked questions about it while he was overseas.”

It was only days later on Nov. 18 that Defence Minister Richard Marles issued a statement describing the CCP ship’s behaviour as “an unsafe and unprofessional interaction.”

Last week, Beijing’s ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian claimed the CCP warship “didn’t initiate sonar,” and tried to shift the blame to Japan—a claim rejected by both the government and opposition.