China warns Australia to act prudently in naval operations in the South China Sea

By ROD McGUIRK
Associated Press

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A visiting Chinese official has warned Australia to act with “great prudence” in deploying warships in the South China Sea after a recent confrontation between the two navies. Liu Jianchao is the Chinese Communist Party’s international minister. He gave the warning on Tuesday while speaking at a Sydney university during a trip that paves the way for President Xi Jinping’s Australian visit expected next year. Bilateral relations had been improving but took a downturn when Australia accused a Chinese destroyer of injuring Australian navy divers with sonar pulses in Japanese waters on Nov. 14. Liu reiterated China’s position that the encounter happened outside Japanese territorial waters and that the Chinese warship caused no harm.