The German Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday (July 8) that a Chinese warship aimed a laser at a German aircraft in the Red Sea. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned Deng Hongbo, China’s ambassador to Germany, on this matter.
According to Deutsche Presse-Agentur, the incident occurred in early July when a German aircraft participating in the EU’s “Operation ASPIDES” was conducting a reconnaissance flight in the Red Sea. During the flight, a Chinese warship was found to be aiming a laser at the aircraft. Laser irradiation is regarded as a threatening gesture at least militarily.
“Operation ASPIDES” is a military operation launched by the European Union in the Red Sea region in February 2024 to protect shipping security in the Red Sea region, especially against attacks on merchant ships by the Houthi armed forces in Yemen. “Aspides” means “shield” in ancient Greek. The operation is led by the European Union and has been supported and participated by many member states.
The aircraft in distress is a “multi-sensor platform” (MSP) non-military reconnaissance aircraft called “Flying Eye”. According to Reuters, a spokesman for the German Ministry of Defense said that the Chinese warship had appeared in the waters many times before, and this time “laser irradiation was used without prior contact and without proper reason”, which could “cause harm to personnel and equipment”.
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“Totally unacceptable”
The German Foreign Ministry said on the social platform X: “It is totally unacceptable to put German personnel in danger and interfere with the operation.”
According to Germany’s “Spiegel Online”, the targeted German reconnaissance aircraft was chartered for the Red Sea operation and is stationed in Djibouti, an East African country. The aircraft is piloted by a civil aviation pilot and can carry 4 Federal Armed Forces soldiers.
The above incident occurred when the aircraft approached a Chinese frigate. Unlike usual, the crew of the Chinese ship did not contact the pilot through the emergency call frequency in advance. The possible damage is not clear at present, and air traffic in the area was sparse at the time.
A spokesman for the German Ministry of Defense said that after the incident, the German reconnaissance aircraft interrupted its mission and returned, and landed safely at the base in Djibouti, and the people on board were unharmed.
China has also implemented operations to protect merchant ships from pirate attacks in the Red Sea. Since 2008, the Chinese Navy has carried out escort missions in the Gulf of Aden and Somali waters. In 2017, China officially established a “support base” in Djibouti, which is regarded as the first overseas military base of the Chinese Navy.
