Chinese Jets Circle Dutch Ship, Create ‘Unsafe Situation’ in East China Sea, Says Netherlands

Chinese fighter jets circled a Dutch frigate and approached a Dutch helicopter during a patrol in the East China Sea.

Chinese J-15 fighter jets launch from the deck of the Liaoning aircraft carrier during military drills in the Yellow Sea, off China's east coast, on Dec. 23, 2016. (STR/AFP via Getty Images)Taiwan's defence minister warned on December 27 that enemy threats were growing daily after China's aircraft carrier and a flotilla of other warships passed south of the island in an exercise as tensions rise. / AFP / STR / China OUT Photo credit should read STR/AFP via Getty Images

Chinese fighter jets circled a Dutch frigate and approached a Dutch helicopter during a patrol in the East China Sea, creating “a potentially unsafe situation,” the Dutch Defense Ministry announced over the weekend.

In a June 8 statement, the ministry stated that its HNLMS Tromp was circled by two Chinese fighter jets several times while the frigate was conducting patrols in the East China Sea to support a multinational United Nations coalition supervising the enforcement of sanctions against North Korea.