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Jakarta, CNBC Indonesia – Canada’s defense minister accused Chinese fighter jets of “dangerously and recklessly” intercepting a Canadian military plane in international waters.

Bill Blair spoke afterwards Global News Canada says a Chinese plane came within five meters of a Canadian surveillance plane participating in a UN operation to enforce sanctions against North Korea.

The incident occurred in international waters off the coast of China, where there was a crew on board the plane. Blair said that although the Chinese air force regularly interacts with aircraft on UN missions, Monday’s incident put Canadian planes at risk.

“I am very concerned about the unprofessional way in which this was done,” Blair was quoted as saying. The Guardian.

“This is absolutely dangerous and reckless and such behavior is never acceptable and we will express this to the People’s Republic of China in the most appropriate manner,” he continued, without providing details.

The Chinese Embassy in Ottawa did not respond to a request for comment on the report Global News.

In June 2022, the Canadian military accused Chinese warplanes of interfering with its patrol planes as they monitored North Korea’s sanctions evasion, sometimes forcing Canadian planes to divert their flight path.

In May, the Pentagon said a Chinese fighter jet carried out “unnecessarily aggressive” maneuvers near a U.S. military aircraft over the South China Sea in international airspace. The meeting follows what Washington calls a recent trend of increasingly dangerous behavior by Chinese military aircraft.

(luc/luc)