Canada: Airspace encounters of the Chinese kind

When a Canadian Lockheed CP-140 Aurora, a version of the P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft, was on an eight-hour UN mission in international airspace over the East China Sea, a Chinese Chengdu J-10 closed to within five metres of its wings, while a Shenyang J-16 kept to the sidelines. The Aurora was flying in an area close to Chinese airspace to monitor ship movements while enforcing the oil embargo against North Korea. These flights are regularly "welcomed" by Chinese air force units - even several times during a mission - but rarely so aggressively. During the last approach, decoys were even detonated, similar to what happened to an Australian P-8A Poseidon with a Shenyang J-16 just over a year ago. "Unprofessional and very aggressive, an absolute safety risk," was the verdict of the head of the Canadian Air Force Operations Command, Major General Iain Huddleston, who was flying on board, to the two Canadian press TV crews travelling with him. A short time later, the Canadians were able to watch a documentary almost live on their screens at home. A verbal note from the government concerned is usually followed by the Chinese claim that the other side had violated Chinese flight space. If this had really been the case, the meeting would have been different - certainly not friendlier, but not so provocatively brazen.