Papua New Guinea's Foreign MinisterJustin Tkatchenko says he was not notified about a sophisticated drone that flew into the country's air space around the time a Chinese naval vessel navigated the border between PNG and Australia.
Villagers spotted the drone flying about 6km inland of Mabaduan village on the PNG coast, in an area only a few kilometres from the Australian border.
It occurred around the same time the Chinese navy's Jiangkai-class frigate Hengyang passed through the Torres Strait on February 11, before it joined two other Chinese warships off the east coast of Australia.
[MAP]The three vessels later conducted live fire drills in the Tasman Sea between Australia and New Zealand, forcing commercial airlines to divert flights and stoking a furious political debate in Canberra.
Video footage shows the drone hovering above a Papua New Guinean village at night, displaying bright lights.
Local ranger Gigi Koidawane said he originally thought he was looking at a small plane.
"It was like a stingray shape when it was going in the sky, one light in front, and two lights at the back," he said.
The ABC understands the Australian Defence Force did not launch any drones in the Torres Strait region around that time.
Drones key to information gathering
Dr Malcolm Davis, a senior analyst in defence strategy and capability at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, said it was difficult to categorically identify the drone from the footage.
"My guess is this was a reconnaissance drone that was launched from one of those [Chinese] naval vessels to gather intelligence on activities around the Chinese Task Force," Dr Davis told the ABC.
The Torres Strait is a narrow sea passage that is shallow in some parts, making it difficult to navigate.
"The Chinese would want to have as much information as possible on activities at sea in terms of other ships in the area and basically be able to ensure that they could transit the strait safely," he said.
"I don't think we should be overly concerned.
"We should recognise that the Chinese have invested in these sorts of capabilities, like most other navies do. And we'll probably will see this sort of thing happening again."
However, the drone was also spotted from the PNG mainland, at least 6km inland from the coast.
"These drones could … help the Chinese better understand the environment they're operating in. So in a crisis or a war situation, the Chinese could operate more effectively in that part of the ocean," he said.
PNG foreign minister unhappy
Mr Tkatchenko did not specifically name China, but said it would be concerning if a foreign military entered the country's air space without notifying local authorities.
"It doesn't matter which country it is, if they are entering into our sovereign territory you would expect the courtesy of them telling us what they are doing," Mr Tkatchenko said.
The foreign minister also denied reports in the Daily Telegraph that China had given him advance notice of the warships' passage "weeks" in advance of the drills.
Mr Tkatchenko said, in fact, China's Ambassador to PNG told him the Chinese navy vessels were planning to pass through PNG waters on the same day Australia officials briefed him on the same topic — which was around two days before the Australian Defence Force made a statement alerting the public to their presence.
"[Australia] alerted us to the fact as well, and that was roughly the same time," Mr Tkatchenko said.
But he said he was not made aware of any drone activity in the area.
"If I flew a plane into Australia without the proper approvals or processes, I would be hunted down and detained," he said.
"The unfortunate thing is [in PNG] we don't have the updated capabilities in infrastructure and development to apprehend such vessels or aircraft, so we are handicapped in that regard."
The ABC has contacted the Chinese embassies in Australia and Papua New Guinea, as well as PNG's Defence Minister Billy Joseph for comment.
