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Australia and Japan have sounded the alarm after a Chinese military plane locked its radar on Japanese fighter jets on the weekend, aggravating tensions between the Asian nations at loggerheads over Taiwan.

“We are deeply concerned by the actions of China in the last 24 hours,” Australian Defence Minister Richard Marles told a joint news conference on Sunday in Tokyo after holding talks with his counterpart, Japan’s Defence Minister Shinjuro Koizumi.

Defence Minister Richard Marles in a military vehicle with Japan’s Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi in Tokyo on Sunday.Credit: AFP

“We expect those interactions to be safe and professional. We continue to advocate to China about these issues in a very calm, sensible and moderate way.”

Radar is used by jets to lock on to targets, and for search and rescue operations. On Saturday, Japan reported that an aircraft launched from a Chinese carrier “intermittently” locked its radar on Japanese jets tracking the ship from a distance, once for 30 minutes.

The Chinese J-15 fighter jet directed fire-control radar at the Japanese military aircraft near Japan’s Okinawa islands in two incidents, Koizumi said.

A fire-control radar lock is one of the most threatening acts a military aircraft can take because it signals a potential attack, forcing the targeted aircraft to take evasive action.

A Chinese J-15 fighter jet over the Pacific in June.Credit: AP/Japan’s Ministry of Defence