China blasts 'malicious' Canada air patrol after latest intercept

China accuses Canada of "malicious and provocative" air patrol over South China Sea. Ottawa rebuked Beijing for two risky midair intercepts. China's Defence Ministry said Canadian helicopter flew at ultra-low altitudes and "wantonly hyped" event.

China on November 4 accused Canada of conducting a "malicious and provocative" air patrol over the disputed South China Sea, after Ottawa rebuked Beijing for what it described as a second risky midair intercept in two weeks.

Canada's Defence Minister Bill Blair said on November 3 that a Chinese fighter jet twice flew close to a Canadian Cyclone helicopter over the Paracel Islands on October 29, firing flares "directly in front" of the craft on the second flyby.

The jet's actions "were deemed to be significantly unsafe", Mr. Blair said of the incident, which followed a similar near-miss over another disputed waterway near China in mid-October.

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Beijing hit back at Mr. Blair's claims on November 4, with a Defence Ministry spokesperson saying the Canadian helicopter conducted "a malicious and provocative act with ulterior motives".

"Recently, ship-borne helicopters on Canada's HMCS Ottawa made two sorties towards the airspace around China's Xisha Islands, with unknown intentions," Zhang Xiaogang said in an online statement, using the Chinese name for the Paracels.

"China's People's Liberation Army organised naval and air forces to identify and verify (the craft) in accordance with the law, and issued multiple warnings," Mr. Zhang said.