Canberra, Oct. 20 -- Australia on Monday lodged a diplomatic protest with Beijing after a Chinese jet fighter released flares close to an Australian surveillance plane in the South China Sea.

As per the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, this is the latest in a string of encounters between the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and the Chinese military.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said that nobody was harmed, but said the Chinese action was "unsafe and unprofessional".

Marles was cited as saying by the ABC news that an 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 fighter jet.

Marles said Australia was deliberately publicising the encou...