17-10-2023 (OTTAWA) Canada’s Defence Minister, Bill Blair, has condemned the interception of a Canadian military aircraft by Chinese fighter jets over international waters on Monday, describing the incident as “unacceptable, dangerous, and reckless.” This comes in response to reports by Canada’s Global News that a Chinese jet came dangerously close, within five meters, of a Canadian surveillance plane engaged in a UN operation to enforce sanctions against North Korea.
The incident occurred in international waters off the coast of China, and Blair expressed his deep concern over the unprofessional and risky manner in which it took place. He noted that while the Chinese air force frequently interacts with planes on UN missions, the incident on Monday posed significant risk to the Canadian aircraft.
“I am very concerned about the unprofessional way in which this was done,” Blair stated. “It was quite frankly dangerous and reckless. And those types of behaviors are not ever acceptable, and we will express that to the People’s Republic of China in the most appropriate way,” he added, although specific details were not provided.
The Chinese embassy in Ottawa has not responded to requests for comment regarding the Global News report.
This incident follows previous encounters between Canadian military aircraft and Chinese warplanes. In June 2022, Canada’s military accused Chinese warplanes of harassing its patrol aircraft during their monitoring of North Korea sanction violations, at times compelling Canadian planes to alter their flight paths.
Moreover, in May, the Pentagon reported that a Chinese fighter jet executed an “unnecessarily aggressive” maneuver near a US military aircraft over the South China Sea in international airspace. This incident was part of a broader trend of increasingly perilous conduct by Chinese military aircraft, according to Washington’s assessment.
