South China Sea crisis: Beijing accused of laser attacks on Australian military aircrafts

Australian Defence Forces have been increasingly targeted by hand-held lasers and military insiders blame the attacks on small Chinese fishing vessels sailing in the seas below. Earlier this year Australia’s Defence Department confirmed one of their helicopters had been targeted while travelling over the South China Sea. The incident forced pilots to temporarily return to their ship for medical check-ups, Australia’s ABC News report.

The Defence Department have said attacks of this kind are on the rise, particularly in the South China Sea.

A spokesperson said: “ADF personnel operating on vessels and aircraft have observed, in recent years, an increase in the use of low-strength hand-held lasers by some fishing vessels.

“The reason for fishing vessels using the lasers is unknown, but this may have been to draw attention to their presence in congested waterways.”

Senior defence figures have said Chinese-flagged fishing vessels operating as part of Beijing’s maritime militia are known to employ the tactic against military aircraft that transit through the South China Sea.

Doctor Euan Graham from Latrobe University in Melbourne told the news site the laser attacks are consistent with China’s efforts to control the South China Sea.

He said: “I think it’s consistent with a long-term objective on the part of China to make life difficult for foreign militaries operating in and over the South China Sea, not necessarily by force-on-force encounters but rather by making use of indirect means including the so-called ‘maritime militia’.

“It’s highly dangerous because anything that blinds the sight of pilots even temporarily will incapacitate them and increase the chance of a collision or an emergency landing.”

But the Defence Department has said no “military-grade lasers” have been used against the Australian Navy or Air Force units in the past year.

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The South China Sea is the centre of a global dispute as many countries have laid claim to its waters.

It is so hotly contested because of its lucrative shipping lanes, capacity for military strategic advantages and wealth of natural resources such as oil and minerals.

China has remained stubborn in its efforts to claim authority over the South China Sea, defying international tribunal rulings and its aggrieved neighbours in its advocacy for its Nine-Dash Line claim.

This has caused tension to grow between the country’s President Xi Jinping and Donald Trump, as the two nation’s continue to patrol its waters.

Beijing have accused the US of provoking the Chinese military by trespassing into the waters of China’s islands.

A show of strength by the Chinese military earlier this year.

source: express.co.uk