Federal Defence Minister Peter Dutton has hit back at claims in the Chinese newspaper The Global Times that an RAAF plane was flying to close to its navy ships.

Early on Thursday, a RAAF P-8A Poseidon was stuck by a military-grade laser while monitoring a Chinese ship in the Arafura Sea.

Mr Dutton said there was nothing out of the ordinary in terms of the path the RAAF surveillance flight had taken.

“The Chinese ship as able to direct a military grade laser at the P-8 plane and that can result in some of the instrumentality being damaged or the radar being damage on the plane, it can blind the pilot or the crew in certain circumstances on the plane,” he told Scott Emerson.

“It’s quite a dramatic step for the vessel to take, and fortunately in this instance, our RAAF personnel weren’t injured … but it’s a very provocative step, it’s unsafe, it’s unprofessional.”

He rejected that his response had any bearing on China’s actions.

“I don’t think anybody can point to a period where appeasement has worked, Scott.”

Press PLAY below to hear the full interview, including his views on the Russia-Ukraine crisis

Image: Sam Mooy/Getty Images