Canadian naval vessel HMCS Ottawa sailing in the East China Sea was closely shadowed by a Chinese warship, according to a reporter from Canada’s CTV television network embedded on the ship.
The hours-long incident took place on Tuesday, when the Canadian Halifax-class patrol frigate with 250 crew on board was on its first international deployment of the year to enforce U.N. sanctions against North Korea, called Operation NEON.
Since then it has moved to Operation Horizon, a multi-nation effort to “promote peace, stability, and the rules-based international order,” according to a press release from the Canadian defense department.
The CTV National News reporter on board HMCS Ottawa said that less than 12 hours after leaving the south of Japan, “the Canadian crew on board quickly learned their ship was being closely watched.”
HMCS Ottawa’s commanding officer Adriano Lozer was quoted as saying that the Chinese ship, “because we are in these regional waters, has decided to stick around us and is currently seven miles on our beam and has been in and out between two to seven miles all day.”
Two miles is considered the minimum safe distance between two ships in open waters in order to avoid collision.
The People’s Liberation Army naval ship was identified as Binzhou, a 4,000-ton Type 054A frigate that carries air defense and anti-submarine missiles.
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This was not the first time that Canadian military assets taking part in international missions were shadowed and harassed by the PLA.
In October 2023, Canada accused Chinese fighter jets of intercepting a Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft in an “aggressive manner” while the latter was flying over international waters also during an Operation NEON mission.
‘Turning black into white’
The Chinese military has not reacted to the CTV report but a news outlet known for its hawkish stance, the Global Times, accused the Canadian media of “turning black into white by hyping” the PLA shadowing the Canadian warship.
Taking press aboard warships is “designed to allow media to exaggerate China’s legitimate monitoring on its doorstep,” Chinese military expert Song Zhongping was quoted as saying.
“Canada is a country from outside of the region,” Song said, stressing that China’s identification and verification of foreign vessels near its waters “completely conforms to international law.”
Canadian and U.S. warships have often conducted joint transits in the Taiwan Strait, angering China, which sees them as a deliberate effort to challenge its control.
Canada said it is committed to promoting freedom of navigation and a free, open and inclusive Indo-Pacific.
In 2023, the HMCS Ottawa sailed through the waters between Taiwan and China’s mainland twice, and also deployed two sorties of shipborne helicopters near the China-controlled Paracel islands.
During the current Operation Horizon, it is expected to join allied naval vessels to carry out exercises and other operational activities to strengthen regional relationships “through security cooperation, building military-to-military interoperability, and enhancing Canada’s role as a trusted international security partner,” the Canadian defense department said.
Edited by Mike Firn.