Australia trying to cover up intrusion by its military plane, China says

A Chinese defense spokesman on Wednesday dismissed Australia's accusation of "unsafe and unprofessional interaction" by the Chinese military over the South China Sea, saying the Australian P-8A patrol plane had illegally intruded into airspace over China's Xisha Islands on Sunday.

Jiang Bin, a spokesman for the Ministry of National Defense, made the remarks in a statement in response to the Australian defense ministry's statement on Monday claiming that its P-8A patrol aircraft conducting a maritime surveillance patrol in the South China Sea experienced an "unsafe and unprofessional interaction" with a Chinese warplane.

Jiang criticized that Australia's statement "turned black into white" and shifted blame in an attempt to cover up its military aircraft's illegal intrusion into China's airspace.

"We are strongly dissatisfied and have lodged stern representations," said the spokesman.

He said that the People's Liberation Army Southern Theater Command organized forces to resolutely intercept, warn, and drive away the Australian aircraft, stressing the actions were lawful, professional, and restrained.

"Australia infringed upon and provoked China, then falsely accused China's rights-protection measures of being 'unsafe' and 'unprofessional'. Such sophistry makes no sense anywhere," Jiang said.

The spokesman urged Australia to immediately stop infringements and provocations and refrain from hyping the incident, and to strictly restrain frontline naval and air operations to avoid harming bilateral military ties.

"The Chinese military will continue to take necessary measures to firmly safeguard national sovereignty and security and steadfastly uphold regional peace and stability," he said.