Chinese Laser Australian Aircraft: What was the purpose of the Chinese laser attack, and why does it matter? A transiting Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLA-N) vessel fired a military-grade laser at an Australian air force plane conducting coastal maritime surveillance shortly after midnight on Thursday. This occurred not on China’s shore in the South China Sea!
But rather off Australia’s north coast in the Arafura Sea, which is part of Australia’s exclusive economic zone. According to what we can tell, this is the closest China has come to military intimidation on our soil. Since then, the Chinese ship has raced through the Torres Strait near Queensland’s northern tip, joined by another PLA-N ship, on its way to the Coral Sea off the Great Barrier Reef. They could be monitoring impending Australian military drills off the coast of Queensland, which is legal as long as the ships stay beyond Australia’s territorial waters, which extend 12 nautical miles out from the coast.
The laser aiming, on the other hand, was neither legal nor suitable
The Chinese ship’s “unprofessional and hazardous military behavior” was criticized by the Department of Defense. Prime Minister Scott Morrison promptly responded, calling the event an “act of intimidation” that put military lives in jeopardy. It was described as “aggressive, bullying behavior” by Defence Minister Peter Dutton. To comprehend what a laser assault is, what these lasers are used for, and how hazardous they are, it’s necessary to first grasp what a laser attack is. We must also explore the reasons why China would commit such an act.
“As foreign countries led by the United States complicate issues regarding the Diaoyu Islands and sensitive South China Sea islands, China’s maritime law enforcement environment has become increasingly serious,” according to an article published this month in the Chinese magazine Naval and Merchant Ships.
What are laser attacks and how do they work?
Lasers are installed on all modern warships. These are mostly used to determine the shooting range and to designate a target prior to launching a weapon. It’s frequently performed on mock targets. For at least two reasons, it is deemed harmful. Before shooting live ordnance like artillery shells, machine guns, or missiles, pointing a laser is commonly referred to as “painting a target.” It is commonly seen as a hostile act that falls just short of outright confrontation or war.
This is because a split second separates laser aiming from firing a missile with hostile intent. For people who are exposed to such beams, it can be a terrifying experience. Furthermore, laser beams are hazardous since they can cause lifelong blindness if they are shone into someone’s eyes, as well as damage to essential navigational and other related systems that are crucial to air safety. For a time, laser pointers were popular in classrooms until the dangers were discovered. These lasers are far more powerful and dangerous.
So, why would China do something like this?
PLA-N, Chinese Coast Guard, and Chinese militia vessels routinely encounter naval vessels operating in the contentious waters of the South China Sea. And these Chinese ships have been participating in this type of behavior against Australian, US, and other aircraft for some time. In uncontested waters closer to Australia – or within any nation’s exclusive economic zone – this kind of forceful and hostile behavior is unusual. This is also not a method that Australia is known to have used against other countries’ naval vessels, especially not in or within China’s exclusive economic zone. As a result, this appears to be an escalation.
China may be attempting to convey a message to Canberra that it’s the South China Sea naval patrols are not welcome. The US Navy, as well as other nations such as Japan, the United Kingdom, and France, participate in these patrols, which are known as Freedom of Navigation Operations, or FONOPS. These FONOPS are seen as aggressive by China, which claims practically the entire South China Sea under the so-called “nine-dash line.” China’s maritime claims were invalidated in 2016 by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, which supported the implementation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), but China still seeks to rewrite the laws.
What should Australia do?
There are two apparent conclusions to be drawn from the preceding several days’ events. To begin with, China is increasing its pressure on Australia. Second, in the run-up to the election, Australian politicians remain ready, if not eager, to utilize rising tensions with China to draw attention to themselves. With the stakes rising and an election nearing, it’s more important than ever to handle these topics firmly yet carefully.
We must avoid making unnecessary concessions to China’s antagonistic methods while also avoiding escalation and politicization of a critical problem for the region’s long-term security and stability. When discussing how to effectively manage this in the future, Australian diplomats should strive to solicit the help of other countries in the region, such as ASEAN members, our Quad allies (India, Japan, and the United States), and others. Solidarity is a powerful thing. China is putting its capabilities to the test to see how far it can go without crossing the line into war.
Beijing is well aware that publicly inciting violence will have serious consequences for the country’s image and prestige. It also doesn’t want to jeopardize its efforts to undercut American and US-aligned security policies that back the South China Sea Court of Arbitration verdict. The acts of Australia have an impact on the region. Our Southeast Asian and Pacific neighbors will be looking to see where our tolerance boundaries are and how far we are willing to push back against Chinese assertiveness — without crossing the line into outright conflict.
Pacific nations dissatisfied with Australia and China tentatively embrace the US’ engagement
- US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Fiji this week as part of Washington’s Pacific expansion strategy, which includes the establishment of an embassy in the Solomon Islands.
- Nations’ misgivings about the US’s ability to remain strong after years of marginalization, as well as the destabilizing influence of China’s outreach: expert
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken
When US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced last week that Washington would expand its presence in the Pacific, he was quick to point out that the move was not motivated by security concerns. Rather, Blinken said during a stop in Fiji after his visit to Australia that the US sees its “long-term future in the Indo-Pacific,” underscoring the Biden administration’s push to strengthen alliances and build a stronger presence in the region to counter China’s growing regional and global footprint.
Blinken, the first US secretary of state to visit Fiji in nearly four decades, said the US would support climate change efforts and expand access to the Covid-19 vaccine in the region, which includes 15 independent island nations spread across Hawaii, Asia, and Australia, as well as tens of thousands of islands, islets, and atolls. In recent years, the sparsely populated region has been thrust into the midst of an escalating geopolitical conflict between the United States and its allies on the one hand, and China on the other.
For a long time, Pacific Island leaders had little choice for a larger partner outside of Australia and New Zealand, according to Cleo Paskal, an associate fellow at Chatham House, and these relationships were unsatisfactory due to the perception that Pacific countries were viewed as “almost colonies.” When China started knocking!
It looked to provide more possibilities, but as many islands are discovered, such as the Solomon Islands, involvement from Beijing “may be seriously economically and socially destabilizing.” According to a Chinese newspaper, converting naval corvettes into China Coast Guard ships might give the enforcement agency additional power and flexibility in dealing with sensitive marine situations.
