The Coalition is pressing Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to reveal if he personally challenged China’s President Xi Jinping about injuries inflicted on Australian seamen by a People’s Liberation Army warship last week.
The run-in, which occurred in international waters off Japan on Tuesday, prompted Australian officials to raise concerns with China’s embassy in Canberra and with the government in Beijing, but opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham said it demanded higher-level engagement.
"In isolation, it may be reasonable to address at officials level but, as part of broader conduct that risks military escalation in our region, it warrants high-level representations,” Senator Birmingham said.
“Australians would think it appropriate for our prime minister to seize an opportunity to raise those concerns with his Chinese counterparts when seeing them within days of this incident.”