Anthony Albanese remains tight-lipped about Chinese flares, meets with President Xi

Anthony Albanese has remained tight-lipped about whether he and his counterpart President Xi Jinping discussed a “dangerous and unprofessional” flare involving a Chinese fighter jet crashing into the South China Sea.

Last week, Chinese defense officials claimed Australia was “illegally intruding into China’s regional airspace” over the Paracel Islands to justify firing two flares near a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft on October 20.

While the Australian crew landed safely and there was no damage to the P-8A aircraft, Australia lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing to formally express its disapproval of the incident.

Senior Labor officials, including Defense Secretary Richard Marles and Foreign Secretary Penny Wong, condemned China’s actions as “unsafe” and “risky”.

Speaking at the APEC leaders’ summit in South Korea, the Prime Minister was asked whether the controversial incident had been discussed with Mr Xi on the sidelines of the meeting.

“I don’t come here and discuss these things outside of private conversations, because you can’t make diplomatic progress that way,” Mr Albanese said.

“It was an informal discussion with President Xi.”

Mr Albanese went on to reference public comments he made following talks with Chinese Premier Li Qiang on the sidelines of ASEAN sessions in Malaysia.

“I have reported official meetings with Prime Minister Li in which this issue was raised,” Mr. Albanese said.

“This is what we are doing with respect to our activities and freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.

“We do it regularly, we do it regularly, and there’s nothing special about it.”

Mr Albanese was asked by journalists in ASEAN whether it was appropriate to call Premier Li a “friend” despite China’s defense of the military incident.

“How can you be willing to call Premier Li a friend when China is firing flares at an Australian RAAF plane?” he was asked.

“We have disagreements and our friends are able to discuss the issues openly,” Mr Albanese replied, adding that he “does so directly”.

“It’s important that we engage diplomatically, clarify our position, which I did directly, and that’s what we did when the incident occurred.”

While the Australian leader did not disclose details of Mr Li’s response, he said the Prime Minister had “heard the message”.

“I’m not here to report on what people say when I have meetings,” he said.

“I am responsible for my words and I have made it clear that this is a worrying incident for Australia.”

Mr. Albanese also separated the incident from his relationship with Mr. Xi, describing it as a “nation-to-nation matter” that did not affect his ability to “trust” the Chinese leader.

He explained that “everything President Xi told me has come true.”

“I interact very directly; I’m a straight man,” he said.

“I speak to leaders the same way I speak to the Australian people – clearly, unambiguously, but also positively.

“And where there are differences I talk about it but I always keep Australia’s national interests in mind.

“Clearly, it is in Australia’s national interest to engage with countries in our region.”