Panic broke out in the South China Sea this weekend after a Chinese fighter jet let off "dangerous" flares "very close" to an Australian plane.
Australian Deputy PM Richard Marles has blasted Beijing as "unsafe and unprofessional" - while Australia's military said it was "concerned" about the run-in.
The Australian Defence Forces confirmed that while the flare did pose a danger to Royal Australian Air Force personnel and equipment, no injuries or damage was sustained.
There have been at least two similar encounters in the last 18 months, one in February this year and one last May.
The Australian surveillance aircraft was a P-8A Poseidon which uses a modified Boeing 737 airframe.
As a result, it is not able to manoeuvre as quickly as fighter jets.
Mr Marles, who is also the Australian Defence Minister, said: "It was dangerous, and it was unsafe, and inherent in that... it could have been a different outcome.
"And it's because of the determining it to be both unsafe and unprofessional that we are now making this public and going through the very set procedures that we do when this occurs."
PICTURED: A P-8 Poseidon aircraft flying as part of Operation Penguin, a joint military exercise between Australia and Brunei in the South China Sea in September
|ROYAL AUSTRALIAN AIR FORCE
A statement regarding the incident was released on the Defence Department's website which said the Australian Government "expects all countries, including China, to operate their militaries in a safe and professional manner".
It added: "For decades, the ADF has undertaken maritime surveillance activities in the region and does so in accordance with international law, exercising the right to freedom of navigation and overflight in international waters and airspace."
On Monday Donald Trump offered his support for Australian nuclear submarines under the "Aukus" alliance in a meeting with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
CHINA'S MILITARY ACTION - READ MORE:
China's military has been increasingly active in the South China Sea in recent years
|REUTERS
As part of the partnership, Australia will be sold a number of Virginia-class submarines by America - a deal achieved by controversially snubbing France.
The three nations will also cooperate on the production of a new vessel, the SSN Aukus, which is expected to come into service at the end of the next decade.
Mr Trump added that bolstering Australia's military might would help to deter China in the Indo-Pacific.
Speaking to reporters before his meeting with Mr Albanese, he said: "We've worked on this long and hard, and we're starting that process right now, and I think it's really moving along very rapidly, very well."
Donald Trump and Anthony Albanese met to discuss the Aukus agreement
|REUTERS
The two leaders also signed a rare earths deal which will see Australia help America process minerals.
The agreement, which had been in discussions for months, was announced just two weeks after China revealed a new sweeping export control regime for critical minerals.
Angered by the unveiling, Mr Trump threatened to hit Beijing with an additional 100 per cent tariff on imports.
However, he said on Monday that he expects to reach "a great trade deal" with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping when they meet in South Korea on October 29 at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.
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