Beijing on Tuesday accused Australia and Canada of “spreading misinformation” over alleged dangerous maneuvers by Chinese military pilots in international airspace.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau hit out at “irresponsible and provocative” actions by Beijing’s air force a day after Canadian planes stationed in Japan avoided a collision with Chinese jets late last month.
The incident has again raised tensions between Beijing and Ottawa, just as Canada eased a prolonged crisis over the arrest of a Chinese tech executive in 2018.
China responded by calling on Canada to “respect the facts (and) stop spreading misinformation” in response to Trudeau’s comments.
“China’s enemy reconnaissance of Canadian fighter jets is completely irresponsible and provocative,” Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said in a press briefing on Tuesday.
“China strongly opposes actions that endanger China’s state sovereignty and security under any pretext.”
Canadian aircraft were deployed to Japan as part of a multinational effort to enforce UN sanctions on North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.
The Canadian military said they were forced to quickly modify their flight path to “avoid a possible collision with the intercepting aircraft”.
In a separate row, Australia claimed last week that Chinese fighter jets intercepted one of its jets over the South China Sea during a routine operation.
Australia argued that it was not unusual for it to conduct surveillance flights on the strategic waterway, which Beijing insisted falls within its jurisdiction, despite a 2016 Hague decision that rejected its claim.
But China said earlier on Tuesday that an Australian P-8A anti-submarine patrol plane had landed on May 26 near the airspace of the disputed Paracel Islands – known in China as Zisha.
Defense Ministry spokesman Tan Kefei said the plane “approached for reconnaissance, ignoring repeated warnings from the Chinese side”.
The People’s Liberation Army organized the Navy and Air Force to identify the military aircraft, “issuing a warning to drive it away”, Tan said.
“Australian military aircraft seriously endanger China’s sovereignty and security, and the measures taken by the Chinese military were professional, safe, reasonable and legal,” he said.
Tan accused Australia of spreading “misinformation” and called the Australian pilots’ actions “dangerous and provocative”.
In February Canberra accused the Chinese military of shining a military-grade laser at one of its defense aircraft over waters in the north of Australia, calling it an “intimidation”.
read all breaking news , today’s fresh news And IPL 2022 Live Updates Here.