The Australian government has denounced the use of rockets by a Chinese plane against a military helicopter in Canberra. The Beijing fighter would have fired on flight path of the rotorcraft, but the pilot would have successfully carried out an evasive maneuver. It happened in international waters around North Korea.

The Chinese action was "dangerous and unprofessional". The use of rockets by Beijing's air force against a helicopter in international waters is "completely unacceptable", said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, adding that he had lodged an official complaint with Beijing.

According to an initial reconstruction of the facts, an Australian Navy Sikorsky MH-60R "Seahawk" amphibious helicopter was operating a patrol mission in the Yellow Sea, as part of an international mission to monitor the activities of North Korea, a country subject to sanctions economics from the West. Suddenly, the aircraft was reportedly intercepted by a Chinese Chengdu J-10 fighter plane.

This is what Australian Ministry of Defense officials report. At that point, the pilot of the "Seahawk" helicopter would have been forced to take evasive action, changing course to avoid the Chinese rockets. The inconvenience would have occurred on Saturday 4 May, however in a context of general improvement in relations between Canberra and Beijing.