PM's office knew about Chinese navy sonar incident days before meeting Xi Jinping

The prime minister's department was notified about a sonar incident with China's navy days before Anthony Albanese met with President Xi Jinping on the sidelines of an international summit in San Francisco. In emails seen by the ABC, and obtained under Freedom of Information laws, a senior official within the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet confirmed Defence had contacted her to explain what occurred to Australian divers in the East China sea. The emails provide a timeline of when PM&C was first notified about the incident and confirm both Foreign Minister Penny Wong's office and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles's office were also informed. Mr Albanese has never disclosed if he raised the incident when he met with Mr Xi in San Francisco later that week. It wasn't until November 18 that Defence Minister Richard Marles issued a public statement that described the incident as "an unsafe and unprofessional interaction with a People's Liberation Army-Navy destroyer. Xi's diplomacy game is on show Just days before Xi Jinping and Anthony Albanese shook hands at the APEC summit, Australian divers were injured by Chinese sonar. Back in Australia on November 18, Mr Marles issued the statement about the incident in the East China Sea.