'Malicious & provocative act': China fumes after Canadian military helicopter flies over South China Sea 

A Canadian military helicopter, with “unknown intentions” in the South China Sea, had violated Chinese and international laws, China’s defence ministry said on Saturday.

A ministry spokesperson termed the action as “malicious” and “provocative,” suggesting “ulterior motives,” further asserting that it had jeopardized China’s sovereignty and security.

On Friday, Canada’s defence minister had accused Chinese warplanes of flying dangerously close to the Canadian helicopter over international waters in the South China Sea the weekend before and firing flares at it, placing the crew at risk.

His comments marked the second time in two weeks that Canada has accused China’s air force of unsafe behaviour. In mid-October, Blair said a Chinese jet had come within five meters (16 feet) of a surveillance plane taking part in a U.N. operation to enforce sanctions against North Korea.

Blair said a Chinese jet had initially flown right over the helicopter on Sunday, causing it to experience significant turbulence. Later that day another jet launched flares directly in front of the helicopter, forcing it to swerve to avoid being hit.

“These manoeuvres put the safety of all personnel involved in unnecessary risk,” he told reporters, saying Ottawa considered the recent actions by Chinese jets to be “significantly unsafe”.

The Chinese embassy in Ottawa was not immediately available for comment. In the wake of the mid-October incident, Beijing said the Canadian plane had violated China’s sovereignty.

In May, the Pentagon said a Chinese fighter jet carried out an “unnecessarily aggressive” manoeuvre near a U.S. military plane over the South China Sea in international airspace. The encounter followed what Washington calls a recent trend of increasingly dangerous behaviour by Chinese military aircraft.

With inputs from Reuters.