The Australian defence minister, Richard Marles, said on Saturday that several divers from the HMAS Toowoomba sustained injuries from sonar pulses emitted by a Chinese warship in international waters off Japan.

“We urge the Australian side to respect the facts, stop rude and irresponsible accusations toward China, engage in endeavors that are conducive in boosting mutual trust, and build a positive atmosphere for developing better bilateral relations and military-to-military ties,” Wu said according to the Global Times.

According to a transcript published on the website of China’s foreign affairs ministry, spokesperson Mao gave a similar response at a press conference.

The federal opposition is also demanding to know if Albanese raised the issue with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, when the pair met last week at the Apec summit in the US.

Albanese told Sky that Australia had made complaints “through all of the appropriate channels in all of the forums that are available”, but declined on several occasions to confirm whether he’d raised it with Xi directly, saying he wouldn’t talk about the content of private meetings.

A spokesperson told Guardian Australia: “Medical assessments conducted after the divers exited the water identified they had sustained minor injuries likely due to being subjected to the sonar pulses from the Chinese destroyer.”

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