Trudeau calls Chinese fighter jets flying dangerously close to Canadian military plane troubling

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is expressing concern after Chinese fighter jets flew dangerously close to a Canadian military plane operating in Asia.

Trudeau says he wants to make sure this does not become part of a pattern of escalation from China.

“The fact that China would have chosen to do this is extremely troubling. So we will be bringing it up directly with Chinese officials and counterparts and ensuring that this doesn’t continue to be part of an escalatory pattern,” he said.

The Canadian Armed Forces say on several occasions, planes with the Chinese Air Force have flown dangerously close to Canadian aircraft.

“We obviously take the situation very seriously,” Trudeau insisted. “Canada is an active part of an important mission in the North Pacific to ensure that the sanctions applied to North Korea are properly enforced.”

Canada deployed a CP-140 Aurora maritime patrol aircraft from April 26 to May 26 as part of Operation Neon, a multinational effort to support the implementation of UN Security Council sanctions on North Korea.