Australia lodged a formal complaint with China after a People's Liberation Army-Navy helicopter conducted what Canberra described as an "unsafe and unprofessional" maneuver near an Australian Defence Force helicopter operating over international waters in the Yellow Sea on March 4, Reuters reported March 6. The Chinese aircraft reportedly matched altitude, closed to an unsafe distance and rolled toward the Australian helicopter, forcing the crew to take evasive action during a patrol enforcing U.N. sanctions on North Korea.

The incident occurred as Australia continues to participate in multinational monitoring designed to enforce sanctions against North Korea's illicit maritime activity. It is the latest in a string of close encounters between Chinese and Australian craft, including a close-range incident between a Chinese fighter jet and Australian surveillance craft over the South China Sea in October 2025. China also conducted unannounced livefire naval drills off Australia's southeastern coast in the Tasman Sea in February 2025, spooking Canberra.