New Zealand officials are pushing back against Chinese accusations that one of their military aircraft violated security protocols during a patrol mission in waters near China on Saturday.
Beijing’s foreign ministry announced Friday that a New Zealand P-8A patrol plane had “conducted continuous close-in reconnaissance and harassment in the airspace and waters of the Yellow Sea and East China Sea.”
Chinese spokesperson Guo Jiakun stated that “The action undermined China’s security interests, increased risks of misunderstanding and miscalculation, and gravely disrupted the order of civil aviation,” according to official government records.
New Zealand’s Defence Force countered the allegations, explaining that a Royal New Zealand Air Force aircraft “has been undertaking activities that monitor North Korean sanctions evasions at sea in North Asia under UN Security Council resolutions.”
Defence officials emphasized that “The New Zealand Defence Force crew operated professionally and in accordance with international law and civil aviation procedures for the region.” They added in their official response: “We have made it clear that this is a longstanding deployment enforcing UN-mandated sanctions on North Korea.”
Tensions between New Zealand and China have been elevated since February of last year when Chinese naval forces held live-fire military drills in the Tasman Sea near New Zealand’s coastline. The two nations’ leadership attempted to repair diplomatic relations during a June meeting in New Zealand, focusing on trade partnerships as a way to strengthen bilateral cooperation.
