Defence Minister Richard Marles

News Snapshot:

The naval incident occurred on Tuesday last week, less than a week after Anthony Albanese returned from a historic trip to China to stabilise the relationship. In international waters near Japan, Australian navy divers were trying to disentangle a fishing net from beneath the HMAS Toowoomba when a Chinese destroyer approached and activated its sonar, causing the divers to cease operations. One suffered a minor injury. On Monday night, after Mr Albanese said the incident had the potential to damage the recovering relationship, China said Australia was at fault. “China’s military is always highly disciplined and conducts professional operations in...