China changes story on helicopter incident, now it's "Spying".

Beijing has shifted its story on the latest confrontation between Chinese and Australian forces, claiming that one of its fighter jets intercepted an Australian helicopter because it was trying to spy on naval exercises in the Yellow Sea.

Australia lodged diplomatic protests with Beijing after a Chinese fighter jet dropped flares just in front of an Australian Seahawk helicopter which was enforcing UN sanctions on North Korea, with Defence Minister Richard Marles warning the incident endangered Australian personnel.

A flunky for China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs had a bit of a think and decided the best thing to do was accused Australia of "Provocative" behaviour, but seemed to confirm the confrontation occurred over international waters, saying the helicopter simply flew "within close range of China's airspace".

Having had another think, the Chinese Ministry of Defence issued a different account of the incident, and decided to get tough and try and flob the Australians of by accusing Australia of spying on military exercises being conducted by China's tin-pot navy in the region.

"A Chinese naval fleet (?) conducted training in relevant waters of China's Yellow Sea from May 3 to 4, during which the Australian guided missile destroyer HMAS Hobart dispatched a ship-borne helicopter for three times to conduct close-in reconnaissance and disturb the normal training activities of the Chinese side," said Senior Colonel Zhang Xiaogang.

"Chinese troops sent a vocal warning to the Australian helicopter and conducted legitimate, reasonable, professional, and safe operations to expel it, which are fully in line with the international law and international practice." - what a crock of sh*t.

A spokesperson for Mr Marles declined to respond, but said the government stood by its account of the incident.

Beijing has previously accused the US of spying on its forces in the wake of confrontations and interceptions in the South China Sea.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wasn't directly questioned about the spying allegation but said the statement from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs proved Australia's account was accurate.

"Indeed in the wording they've used saying they were near Chinese airspace is confirmation that there's no question that the Australian Defence Force personnel were both in international waters and airspace," he said.

"They were undertaking work on behalf of the international community enforcing UN sanctions on North Korea."

Jennifer Parker, who is an expert associate at the ANU's national security college, said that China's account was "Highly unlikely" because it would represent a radical departure from the usual practice of Australian forces in the region.

"It's not Australia's normal procedure to send a helicopter to investigate the naval exercises of other countries — there are more effective ways to achieve that with satellite-based capabilities," she said.

"Also, Australia's lack of participation in FONOPS (Freedom of Navigation Operations) in the region shows the Australian approach to China has been to not be provocative.

"It would be highly unlikely for an Australian ship helicopter to provoke China like this during a naval exercise for limited to no benefits."

Original Story By | Stephen Dziedzic