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https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-was-the-chinese-laser-attack-about-and-why-does-it-matter-177524>
"Just after midnight last Thursday, a transiting Chinese People’s Liberation
Army Navy (PLA-N) vessel shone a military-grade laser at an Australian air
force plane conducting coastal maritime surveillance.
This did not happen in the South China Sea near China’s coastline, but rather
in the Arafura Sea, within Australia’s exclusive economic zone off the north
coast of the country. From what we can ascertain, this is the closest an
attempt at military intimidation by China has gotten to our shores.
The Chinese vessel has since steamed through the Torres Strait at the northern
tip of Queensland accompanied by another PLA-N ship, heading towards the Coral
Sea off the Great Barrier Reef.
They may be intending to monitor upcoming Australian military exercises off the
Queensland coast, which is a legitimate act as long as the ships stay outside
Australia’s territorial waters, which stretch 12 nautical miles from the coast.
The laser pointing, though, was not a legitimate or appropriate act.
The Department of Defence condemned “the unprofessional and unsafe military
conduct” by the Chinese ship. This was quickly followed up by Prime Minister
Scott Morrison declaring the incident an “act of intimidation” that put
military lives at risk. Defence Minister Peter Dutton labelled it an
“aggressive, bullying act”.
In seeking to put this in context, it’s important to understand what a laser
attack is, what these lasers are used for, and how dangerous they are. We also
need to consider the possible reasons China would engage in such an act."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
