Canadian Military Plane Intercepted Multiple Times by Chinese Jets in Latest East Asia Mission

A CH-148 Cyclone helicopter and a CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft fly over HMCS WINNIPEG as part of a photo exercise in the Asia-Pacific Region during Operation NEON, November 15, 2020. (Sailor 1st Class Valerie LeClair, MARPAC Imaging Services/CAF Combat Camera via Flickr)

Chinese military jets have intercepted a Royal Canadian Air Force plane a number of times during its latest UN-sanctioned mission in East Asia to monitor sanctions against North Korea, says the Department of National Defence (DND).

“The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) can confirm that our Royal Canadian Air Force CP-140 Aurora long-range patrol aircraft was intercepted on numerous occasions by the People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) during this most recent iteration of Operation NEON,” said DND spokesperson Jessica Lamirande.

“While we cannot provide specific numbers or dates, we can say that these intercepts occurred regularly over the course of the mission.”

The CP-140 Aurora is typically deployed alongside a military ship, with HMCS Vancouver taking part in the latest deployment that occurred last September.

Operation NEON is part of a U.S.-led multinational effort called the Pacific Security Maritime Exchange (PSMX), involving Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, and the United Kingdom.

The objective is to help enforce sanctions that were imposed against North Korea between 2006 and 2017 in response to its nuclear program and ballistic missile launches.

Sanctions are capping the amount of fuel that North Korea can import and the country seeks to avoid them by doing clandestine ship-to-ship transfers.

‘Potential Collision’

It is not the first time the issue of interception of the Aurora by Chinese jets has surfaced, and it appears the latest deployment was not as eventful as what took place last spring.

DND said at that time that PLAAF fighter jets were coming so close to the Aurora that the aircrew had to “quickly modify their own flight path in order to increase separation and avoid a potential collision with the intercepting aircraft.”

Now Lamirande says that “Canada has been clear in its expectation that all intercepts should be conducted in a safe and professional manner and refrain from impeding lawful operations in international airspace.”

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau had expressed concerns about the close-calls on June 3.

“We obviously take this situation very seriously, so we will be bringing it up directly with Chinese officials and counterparts and ensuring that this doesn’t continue to be part of an escalatory pattern,” he said.

No similar type of harassment by the PLAAF of other participants in the PSMX has been reported and the French Department of Defence told The Epoch Times in June that its aircraft involved in the mission have never been subjected to such dangerous maneuvers.