China rejects US military claims of laser attacks on pilots
China on 4 May rejected US allegations that Chinese nationals shone military-grade lasers at American pilots in Djibouti, dismissing the claims as ‘inconsistent with facts’.
Beijing, which operates a naval base in the Horn of Africa country, denied Pentagon accusations that Chinese personnel have targeted US pilots in the country with the beams, resulting in minor injuries to airmen and creating the potential for an accident.
‘After careful verification, we have told the US explicitly that the so-called accusations are totally inconsistent with facts,’ foreign ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying told reporters.
‘You can remind relevant people in the US to pay attention to facts and not to make groundless accusations,’ she said during a regular briefing.
US officials issued a formal diplomatic complaint and demanded Beijing investigate a series of incidents dating back several weeks, Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said on 3 May.
White said: ‘They are very serious incidents. This activity poses a true threat to our airmen.’
In one case, two pilots on a C-130 cargo plane suffered minor eye injuries as they came in to land at the base in the Horn of Africa nation, another spokeswoman, Major Sheryll Klinkel, told AFP.
Located at Djibouti international airport, the US military’s Camp Lemonnier base is its only permanent facility in Africa. It is used largely for counter-terrorism operations in East Africa and Yemen.
In 2017, China opened a naval base in Djibouti, only a few miles (kilometres) from the US facility, marking the first overseas base for Beijing’s rapidly growing military.
White said she was ‘confident’ that whoever had shone the high-powered lasers was Chinese.
Officials told The Wall Street Journal the laser likely came from the Chinese base.
The Federal Aviation Administration last month published a warning to pilots to use extreme caution in the area.
‘There have been multiple lazing events involving a high-power laser in the vicinity,’ the warning reads.
More from Defence Notes
-
![US speeds up B61-13 nuclear bomb production as programme moves further ahead of schedule]()
US speeds up B61-13 nuclear bomb production as programme moves further ahead of schedule
The US government plans to accelerate production even further after achieving key B61-13 milestones months ahead of schedule, as the programme advances amid growing US-China strategic competition.
-
![Canada’s C$2 billion ACSV deal reinforces new defence industrial strategy as allies align]()
Canada’s C$2 billion ACSV deal reinforces new defence industrial strategy as allies align
General Dynamics Land Systems-Canada is the country’s first strategic partner under the Defence Industrial Strategy’s Strategic Partnership Framework, an effort to provide companies with confidence to invest and boost the defence labour force.
-
![New UK armed forces minister frames High North defence as vital to “homeland security”]()
New UK armed forces minister frames High North defence as vital to “homeland security”
The UK’s Minister for the Armed Forces Louise Sandher-Jones made her first appearance in the role before the House of Commons Defence Committee this week to highlight efforts to improve capability in the High North.
-
![Canada seeks to strengthen industrial ties with the US on classified programmes]()
Canada seeks to strengthen industrial ties with the US on classified programmes
Ottawa explores expanding defence-industrial cooperation with Washington into sensitive programmes, an approach that could reshape NORAD modernisation, strengthen North American supply chains and create new opportunities for defence contractors.
