The prime minister says China's premier "heard" his concerns about a potentially dangerous recent military encounter in the South China Sea after he raised the confrontation during a high-level meeting in Malaysia.

Anthony Albanese sat down with Premier Li Qiang — China's second most senior leader — on the sidelines of the ASEAN meeting in Kuala Lumpur on Monday morning.

The meeting came just one week after the government revealed that a Chinese fighter jet confronted an Australian surveillance plane in the South China Sea , firing two flares dangerously close to the P8.

Defence Minister Richard Marles labelled the conduct of the People's Liberation Army plane as "unprofessional and unsafe", drawing a furious response from China's Defence Ministry, which accused Australia of distribu

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