This happened last week and the news is just starting to pick-up on it. Will be interesting in how the various navies start to use non-kenetic means to deal with the varying levels of harassment and belligerence the PLAN has been doing the last several years.
Australian naval personnel have sustained minor injuries after being subjected to sonar pulses from a Chinese warship, with the federal Opposition calling for the prime minister to say if he raised the issue with Xi Jinping.
MAS Toowoomba had been operating in international waters off Japan in support of a United Nations mission to enforce sanctions when the incident occurred on Tuesday.
Naval divers were working to clear fishing nets from the Australian frigate's propellers, when the Chinese warship began operating its hull-mounted sonar.
According to Defence Minister Richard Marles, the Australian frigate provided multiple warnings to vessels in the area that diving operations were underway.
"Despite acknowledging Toowoomba's communications, the Chinese vessel approached at a closer range," he said.
"Soon after, it was detected operating its hull-mounted sonar in a manner that posed a risk to the safety of the Australian divers who were forced to exit the water."
It's understood the divers suffered injuries to their ears, likely due to the sonar pulses.
The federal government has expressed its serious concerns to the Chinese government, with Mr Marles labelling the incident "unsafe and unprofessional interaction".
And he says ADF vessels have run maritime surveillance activities in the area "for decades", doing so in accordance with international law.
While the frigate was in international waters, it still fell within Japan's Exclusive Economic Zone. It was sailing towards Japan, where it had a scheduled port visit.
Shadow Defence Minister Andrew Hastie, in a statement on Saturday evening, criticised the government for announcing the incident after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese departed for the APEC summit in the US.
"While the responsibility is solely on the Chinese PLA Navy, the Albanese Government also has some serious questions to answer," Mr Hastie said.
"The Prime Minister must explain why he chose to wait until after he left the country to disclose this information, and whether he raised it directly with President Xi Jinping at APEC."
The incident comes less than a fortnight after Mr Albanese made the first official visit to Beijing by an Australian prime minister in seven years, meeting President Xi Jinping.
The discussion was described by the prime minister as one of "goodwill", and Mr Xi credited Mr Albanese for working to stabilise the relationship between the two countries after years of rising tensions.
And only days ago, Mr Xi met with US President Joe Biden in San Francisco, where the two leaders pledged to resume military-to-military communications.
In May last year, tensions between Australia and China were heightened by the presence of a Chinese surveillance ship operating off the West Australian coast, close to a secretive naval communications base at Exmouth.
What is a sonar pulse?
Sonar is an acronym for Sound Navigation And Ranging. There are two types of sonar:
Passive sonar involves listening, via specialised transducers called hydrophones (underwater microphones), for signs of nearby ships. It does not reveal the user's location. Active sonars are used to determine relevant positions of submerged objects by emitting a sound signal that travels through water, reflects off an object, and bounces back to a receiver. Sound signals are not emitted continuously, rather as short bursts or pings during operation. They can detect an underwater threat and target its position. Submarines, warships and other naval platforms use sonar for two main reasons:
To safely navigate deep waters and avoid obstacles Anti-submarine warfare (ASW) ASW sonar equipment is used by vessels to detect, classify, track, and attack underwater threats and targets such as torpedoes and naval mines.
*Information gathered from the Australian Government Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water, and Naval Technology.
Posts: 15190 | Location: Wine Country | Registered: September 20, 2000
China is the biggest enemy to the world. They’re just getting started on serious global domination as they gain technological parity.
“Remember to get vaccinated or a vaccinated person might get sick from a virus they got vaccinated against because you’re not vaccinated.” - author unknown
Hey, remember years ago when China blinded some pilots off the Washington coast with high powered lasers? Pepperidge Farm remembers, nobody else though.
quote:
Originally posted by Will938: If you don't become a screen writer for comedy movies, then you're an asshole.
Posts: 17157 | Location: Washington State | Registered: April 04, 2003
Originally posted by Balzé Halzé: Sounds like the Chinese are just a bunch of assholes.
"If you’re a leader, you lead the way. Not just on the easy ones; you take the tough ones too…” – MAJ Richard D. Winters (1918-2011), E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil... Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel." - Isaiah 5:20,24
Originally posted by gearhounds: China is the biggest enemy to the world. They’re just getting started on serious global domination as they gain technological parity.
It's also shocking how blasé people are about their capabilities. It's not 1980 anymore people.
There was a Youtuber from San Franscisco and on his bucket list was learning Mandarin so he decided to go to China for 3 years and immerse himself into the culture and learn Mandarin at one of the prestigious schools there.
His most shocking discovery about the entire adventure was how blatantly anti-American the entire country is. Like obvious billboards and advertising basically saying how terrible we are.
I think most people would be surprised at the level of distrust and hatred there is of the U.S.
