Berlin says Chinese ship targeted German plane with laser over Red Sea
Beijing’s ambassador to Germany has been summoned over the incident that reportedly took place during an EU-led mission
Berlin on Tuesday said the Chinese military had targeted a laser at a German aircraft taking part in an EU-led mission to protect marine traffic in the Red Sea.
“Endangering German personnel and disrupting the operation is entirely unacceptable,” the foreign ministry said on social media.
The German aircraft was targeted “without reason or prior contact … during a routine operation” over the Red Sea while taking part in the European Union’s Aspides mission, a spokesman for the German defence ministry said.
“I am more than irritated by this incident,” German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul told the RND media group for a story published on Wednesday.
“Such interference with our aircraft, as well as any other unwarranted endangerment of our units, is unacceptable. We summoned the Chinese ambassador and made this clear to him.”
Wadephul stated that China needs to explain the incident. While Germany is willing to engage with China as a partner on equal footing and to seek cooperation repeatedly, “we will clearly reject any unlawful behaviour by China and anything that goes against our rules-based order”, he said.