By Barry Ellsworth
TRENTON, Canada (AA) - Canada had a close encounter with a Chinese warship in international waters in the East China Sea, according to media reports Thursday.
Canada is taking part in naval exercises in the area along with US and Japanese allies. On Wednesday, the HMCS Ottawa warship and other ships in a convoy were closely followed by the Luyang, a heavily armed Chinese destroyer.
The Chinese called out repeatedly to the allied ships and came so close to the HMCS Ottawa -- within about a kilometer (more than half a mile) -- that the Canadian commander ordered intelligence-gathering initiated on the Luyang.
Navy Commander Samuel Patchell said the Chinese were inquisitive about what the HMCS Ottawa and its allies were up to.
"They're as curious about our behavior as we are of theirs," Patchell told an on-board reporter, one of several from the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), as he watched the Luyang from the command bridge of the Canadian vessel.
Prior to locking horns with the Canadian vessel, a small suspected Chinese vessel turned laser lights on the HMCS Ottawa late Tuesday, hitting one sailor. He was not injured, but the laser can cause permanent eye damage. Lasers detect range. The vessel also launched a drone but kept it well back from the Canadian ship which has the armed ability to shoot down drones.
The area where the encounters occurred is “vital to global security and its importance will only increase in the coming years,” Canadian Defence Minister Bill Blair said before the allied mission.
But China insists portions of the East China Sea are its preserve, not international waters as declared by other countries, and has a history of harassing military vessels passing through the Taiwan Strait or South China Sea.