Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Monday, 6 June, denounced Beijing’s “irresponsible and provocative behaviour” after a Chinese aircraft reportedly had several close encounters with Canadian aircraft in international airspace over Japan.
The Canadian aircraft were deployed in Japan as part of a global effort to enforce United Nations sanctions against North Korea for its nuclear weapons programme and Ottawa slammed Beijing for unprofessional and risky behaviour during these incidents.
According to an AFP report, Trudeau said,
“China’s actions are irresponsible and provocative in this case, and we will continue to register strongly that they are putting people at risk.”
Chinese Aircraft 'Clearly Visible': Canadian Military
Last week, the Canadian military said in a statement that the Canadian crew have had to modify their flight path “avoid a potential collision with the intercepting aircraft”.
The statement claimed that Chinese aircraft intentionally tried to divert the Canadian crew’s flight path and flew close enough to be “very clearly visible”.
PM Trudeau also accused China of not respecting UN’s decision to enforce sanctions on North Korea.
Tensions between Ottawa and Beijing are high after the Canadian police arrested Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou in 2018 at the request of the United States and subsequently, China detaining former diplomat Michael Kovrig and businessman Michael Spavor, both Canadian citizens.
They were all released in September last year.
(With inputs from AFP.)
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