A Canadian general complained the Chinese air force over an occurrence off the coast of the Asian nation that seemingly observed a fighter jet spooked a patrol plane dropping flares in its path.
The Canadian news association said at least two Chinese jets intercepted the Canadian plane over multiple hours during the more than eight-hour assignment.
The incident which had reporters on the Canadian surveillance aircraft. Chinese forces also soared within 5 meters (5.5 yards) of the plane, it informed.
They became very hostile to a level we would consider it dangerous and unprofessional; Major-General Iain Huddleston informed the Canadian news. Canada did not want to have anything unfortunate happen that would result in cost of life, he said.
Beijing filed a political complaint with Ottawa over the occurrence in the South China Sea, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning informed Tuesday at a regular press conference in Beijing, adding that in current years Canadian planes have conducted survey “against China.”
Canadian aircrafts have made trouble at the doorstep of China, she said. Canada should except realities and stop spreading incorrect information.
China’s Defense Ministry did not directly reply to a faxed request for comment.
The incident highlights China’s irritation over Western military flights close to its shores, nevertheless carried out in international airspace. In May, the Pentagon informed a Chinese fighter jet that veered in front of a US inspection aircraft over the South China Sea conduct itself in an “unnecessarily hostile operation.”
Last year, Chinese fighters allegedly buzzed Canadian planes in the region and emitted small fragments of aluminum in front of Australian aircraft.
China claims all of the South China Sea as its region, and such mid-flight conflicts have the possibility to escalate. In 2001, a US Navy surveillance plane struck a Chinese fighter. The jet crashed and its pilot was never found, while the Navy’s EP-3 reached the southern Chinese island of Hainan, aggravating a ten-day standoff after which the 24 American crew members were released.
Canada said the 13-member crew of the plane tangled in the occurrence was a part of an UN mission aimed at imposing sanctions against North Korea to urge the nation to conclude its nuclear weapons program.
The missions, which include France, Japan and the US, are aimed at detecting “evasion actions, in particular ship-to-ship transferences of fuel and other commodities,” according to Ottawa.
