China's guided-missile frigate Binzhou (Hull 515) participating in the Joint Sea-2021 naval exercise berths in the Ussuri Bay on October 14, 2021.Photo:China Military

Canadian media on Wednesday claimed that a Chinese warship shadowed a Canadian naval vessel in the East China Sea, but a Chinese expert noted that the Canadian report was deliberately vague on the exact location of the Canadian warship, and it is legitimate for China to conduct identification and verification on foreign vessels near it. Besides, Canadian warship and aircraft have a track record of making provocative moves at China’s doorstep.

Canadian news outlet CTV National News reported on Wednesday that it is on board the HMCS Ottawa, embedded with Canadian Navy personnel and currently documenting their work in the East China Sea.

After the HMCS Ottawa had left the southern city of Sasebo, Japan toward the open waters of the East China Sea, the Canadian crew on board learned their ship was being shadowed by the Binzhou, a Chinese Navy guided missile warship, according to CTV National News.

During its first days at sea, the HMCS Ottawa is on a UN mission, though the ship will soon transition to Operation Horizon, a multi-nation effort to “promote peace and rules based-order in the Indo-Pacific,” the Canadian media claimed.

According to the Canadian report, the Chinese vessel asked the Canadian warship questions such as who are you? Where are you going? The report did not mention any confrontations between the two sides, but further alleged that China is “flexing its maritime muscle” in the region.

The Chinese military has not issued a statement on the incident as of press time.

The Canadian Navy’s move to take press aboard its warship, which is a threadbare trick, and sail to the East China Sea is designed to allow media to exaggerate China’s legitimate monitoring on its doorstep and hype the “China threat” rhetoric, which turns black into white, Song Zhongping, a Chinese military expert, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

The report was deliberately vague on the exact location of the Canadian warship, Song said, noting that Canada is a country from outside of the region, but it is sending a warship all the way near China and then blaming China for monitoring it. Canadian media is blaming on China while Canada itself is to be blamed.

Song stressed that China’s identification and verification of foreign vessels near its waters completely conforms to the international law. Other countries would do the same. Canadian media is in no position to blame China for this.

Furthermore, the HMCS Ottawa has records of transiting the Taiwan Straits and previously engaging in provocative actions near China's Xisha territorial airspace. 

Senior Colonel Shi Yi, a spokesperson at the PLA Eastern Theater Command, said on November 2, 2023 that Canada’s HMCS Ottawa frigate transited the Taiwan Straits with a US destroyer on November 1, 2023 and publicly hyped the transit, prompting the PLA Eastern Theater Command to deploy maritime and aviation forces to closely monitor the situation and respond in accordance with the law and regulations.

Shortly after its Taiwan Straits transit, Zhang Xiaogang, a spokesperson at China’s Ministry of National Defense, said on November 4, 2023 that the HMCS Ottawa deployed two sorties of shipborne helicopters near China's Xisha territorial airspace. In the process, the PLA organized maritime and aviation forces to identify and issued multiple verbal warnings, but the Canadian helicopters refused to respond to multiple warnings and engaged in provocative actions, including ultra-low-altitude flights, while using media to criticize China unfairly. The Canadian move violated Chinese domestic law and related international law, undermined China’s sovereign security, and was a malicious provocative move with ulterior motives, he said.

Zhang urged the Canadian side to acknowledge the facts, cease hyping incidents, and ensure stricter control over its frontline maritime and aviation forces, so as to prevent accidents at sea or in the air.

Another incident took place in October 2023, when a Canadian Air Force CP-140 plane illegally entered Chinese territorial airspace over the Chiwei Islet and approached the coastal areas in East China and entered the Taiwan Straits multiple times for reconnaissance and trouble-stirrings, Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson Wu Qian said at the time. 

The PLA Air Force applied restrictive measures in accordance with the Chinese law and related international rules, Wu said.

According to Canada’s CBC News, a Chinese aircraft came as close as within five meters of the CP-140, while news crews were aboard the Canadian aircraft.

In a separate event, spokesperson Wu said on June 6, 2022 that a Canadian warplane ramped up close-in reconnaissance on China and made provocations under the pretext of carrying out UN Security Council resolution recently. The move undermined China’s national security and risked safety of frontline personnel of both sides, as the Chinese side firmly opposes this.

The Chinese military swiftly took reasonable, forceful, safe and professional measures against the Canadian side’s provocative move and unfriendly, unprofessional maneuvers, according to Wu.

It is fully justified that the Chinese military needs to raise alert to Canadian warships and aircraft, which have such bad records, Song said.