Good Evening everyone. This is ABC News. I'm Jefferson Dufflecoat.

Australian F-35 fighter jets were forced to scramble from RAAF Base Tindal in the Northern Territory this afternoon as Chinese fighters buzzed the edge of Australian Airspace as the naval drills by the Chinese Navy in International waters just north of Australia continue following the EMP attack on a Chinese warship that was found in Australian Waters last week.

An Air Force spokesman said Chinese fighter jets flew to within a couple of hundred kilometers of Australian airspace multiple times on simulated bombing runs, causing the order for F-35 fighter jets to launch but never entered Australian Airspace. Chinese officials refused to comment on the matter but said that "All steps were being taken to ensure the safety of Chinese assets and further incidents were avoided" while their naval drills continued, officials also said the drills would continue for another day or two at least before the carrier groups would return to Chinese territory in the South Pacific.

Australian Coast Guard officials have issued a warning for all civilian and freighter traffic to avoid the area where the naval drills are taking place, adding hours to journeys in and out of the Port of Darwin and delaying shipment deliveries.

This comes as the Government issued a public apology for the actions of the former Defence Minister model-Jordology in ordering the EMP attack, the Government statement acknowledges that the actions have 'caused a serious diplomatic incident" and may result in Jordology being referred to the International Court of Justice and that no objection would be raised if such a referral was made. Jordology was suspended from cabinet and the National Security portfolio, with a full investigation to be held to determine the former ministers position post-suspension. Chinese officials, while welcoming the statement of apology said it did not go far enough and no less than a formal televised apology by the Prime Minister would be acceptable for "such an unprovoked attack on a sovereign Chinese vessel"

The Chinese Government has also issued Individual sanctions against members of the Riley Government and Defence Department officials, including travel bans for all non-state visits to China. The State visit by the Prime Minister to Beijing over the weekend was said to be encouraging however in terms of the possible lifting of sanctions against Australian Beef and Wine exports, however the sanctions remain in place as the bulletin goes to air with further meetings between officials planned to ease tensions and work towards the lifting of sanctions over the coming days.

Jordology, for his part has claimed to have issued the order for the EMP attack acting on intelligence that the Chinese Warship planned to launch an unarmed missile towards Australia in a show of force over Australia's renewed support for its South Pacific neighbours effected by China's controversial "Nine Dash Line" territorial claims. Chinese officials have angrily denied the claims and have demanded a full retraction and public apology, claiming the warship mistakenly entered Australia waters due to a "major malfunction in ship systems" which also cut out communications, explaining why the ship did not answer to requests from Australian Navy vessels before the EMP attack.

On the domestic front, multiple opposition MP's have called upon the Prime Minister to dismiss Jordology from the rest of his government roles as well. Opposition leader SmugDemoness also called on all Australians to "aggressively protest....outside parliament...outside MP's and Senators offices" to "put pressure on the Government to fix the situation".

Protests have already begun to spring up in response to the Opposition Leader's plea, while protests outside Parliament House are small, larger scale protests have been held outside Jordology's office in Darwin and the Prime Minister's office in his electorate of Cunningham. Windows have reported to have smashed and graffiti with "War Monger" tagged sprayed on the walls of Jordology's office. Although no injuries have been reported so far.

The mood remains tense and the chance for a mistake that causes the crisis to deepen remains. we will continue to follow all the developments as they come to hand.

This is ABC News.