Australia has lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing after a Chinese fighter jet released flares close to an Australian surveillance plane in the South China Sea, in yet another potentially dangerous encounter between the two militaries.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said the Australian P-8 surveillance plane was conducting a routine patrol over the South China Sea when it was approached by a People's Liberation Army (PLA) Su-35 fighter jet that released flares, two of them "very close" to the P8.

Mr Marles said while none of the Australian crew members were injured, the encounter was "unsafe and unprofessional" and that the government had made representations to China in both Canberra and Beijing.

"No damage was done but it was dangerous and it was unsafe, and inherent in that is t

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