October 17, 2023—Five meters. That was the distance between a Royal Canadian Air Force and a Chinese jet in international airspace.
“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,” said Canadian Defense Minister Bill Blair.
Several news outlets reported the incident, which shows the intensity of geopolitical relations in East Asia. According to Reuters, China’s Foreign Ministry responded to the complaint by saying Canada “aircraft illegally intruded into the airspace” of islands claimed by China.
Canada’s Global News was one of the first to report it.
Disputed Territory
The land is uninhabited territory in the East China Sea. They go by many names, including the Senkaku Islands, the Pinnacle Islands, the Diaoyu Islands, and the Tiaoyutai Islands. According to a report by the European Parliament, China, Japan, and Taiwan claim the territory. It is a 50-year old controversy.
Canada’s air force flies near the Korean Peninsula as part of a United Nations mission that monitors the Korean Peninsula.
According to reporting by Radio Free Asia, the Canadian plane was conducting a mission as part of U.N. Operation NEON to “monitor shipping lanes in the East China Sea for signs of vessels that may be violating the oil embargo against North Korea.”
