Chinese military harassed Dutch warship enforcing UN sanctions on North Korea, Netherlands says

By Brad Lendon, CNN

Seoul, South Korea (CNN) — A Dutch warship was harassed by Chinese military aircraft in the East China Sea on Friday, the Netherlands said, becoming the latest country to accuse Beijing’s forces of initiating potentially unsafe encounters in international waters.

In a statement Friday, the Dutch Defense Ministry said two Chinese fighter jets circled the frigate HNLMS Tromp several times, while its marine patrol helicopter was “approached” by two Chinese warplanes and a helicopter during a patrol.

“This created a potentially unsafe situation,” the statement said.

CNN has asked the Chinese government for comment on the Dutch accusations.

The Tromp was operating in the East China Sea in support of a multinational coalition enforcing United Nations sanctions on North Korea, known as the Pacific Security Maritime Exchange (PSMX), according to a statement from the European Union.

The UN Security Council has passed multiple resolutions since 2006 imposing sanctions on North Korea for its nuclear weapons program.

PSMX partner nations include Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, the United Kingdom and the United States, according to the US State Department.

Before patrolling in the East China Sea, the Dutch frigate had made a port call in Busan, South Korea, where it participated in exercises with the South Korean Navy, the EU statement said.

Tromp joins a growing list of vessels and aircraft that have accused China’s People’s Liberation Army of conducting possibly unsafe maneuvers in the East and South China Seas and beyond in recent years.

Last month, Australia accused a Chinese fighter jet of firing flares into the path of a naval helicopter operating from the destroyer HMAS Hobart over international waters of the Yellow Sea. The Hobart was also enforcing UN sanctions on North Korea.

“This was an unsafe maneuver which posed a risk to the aircraft and personnel,” a statement from Australian Defense Minister Richard Marles said at the time.

China defended that action by its military and rejected Australia’s claim that the interception was unsafe.

“Under the guise of implementing United Nations Security Council resolutions, Australian warships and aircraft deliberately approached China’s airspace to cause trouble and provocation, endangering China’s maritime and air security,” Foreign Ministry spokesperson Lin Jian told reporters at a regular briefing last month.

“As a warning, the Chinese military took necessary measures at the scene. Relevant operations are legal, compliant, professional and safe.”

The incident was similar to an encounter in late October, when Canada said a Chinese fighter jet fired flares into the path of a Canadian military helicopter over the South China Sea.

“The risk to a helicopter in that instance is the flares moving into the rotor blades or the engines so this was categorized as both unsafe and non-standard, unprofessional,” Maj. Rob Millen, air officer aboard the Royal Canadian Navy frigate HMCS Ottawa, told CNN after the October incident.

China also defended its actions in that incident and accused Canadian forces of conducting an unspecified “malicious and provocative act with ulterior motives.”

Two weeks before the South China Sea encounter, a Royal Canadian Air Force patrol plane reported an unsafe intercept by a Chinese jet while it was supporting the UN enforcement of sanctions on North Korea.

China, which says its forces act in accordance with international law while protecting Chinese interests, has repeatedly claimed that US-led alliances in the Pacific are a threat to its security.

Earlier this month in a speech to the Shangri-La Dialogue defense summit in Singapore, US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington had made “historic progress” in developing alliances and partnerships that have enhanced security in Asia in the past three years.

In a Q&A session, a Chinese colonel asked Austin whether the US is planning to build a NATO-like alliance system in the Asia-Pacific region, and also blamed NATO for the Ukraine war.

Hours later, a Chinese military spokesman accused the United States of “creating division and provoking confrontation” in the region.

“The US keeps creating chaos and has become the source of risks, as well as the destroyer to peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region,” Jing Jianfeng, deputy chief of the Joint Staff Department at China’s Central Military Commission, told reporters in Singapore.

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