FEBRUARY 23, 2023
By Reuters Staff
Printed Chinese and Canada flags are seen in this illustration, July 21, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo
OTTAWA, Feb 22 (Reuters) - Canada is
aware of recent air and maritime surveillance attempts by China and has thwarted
such efforts since last year, the Canadian defense ministry said on Wednesday,
after a newspaper reported Chinese floating devices were found in the Arctic in
autumn.
The discovery of a suspected Chinese spy
balloon, which flew over the United States and Canada before being shot down
earlier this month, has hit already strained relations between Beijing and the
West, and has intensified discourse about North American security.
The Globe and Mail newspaper reported on
Tuesday the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) spotted Chinese monitoring buoys in the
Arctic last year as part of an effort to provide early detection of threats to
Canada’s security.
A spokesperson for Canada’s defense
ministry declined to provide details but said authorities were aware of Chinese
surveillance attempts using dual purpose technologies, which can have both
commercial and military applications.
“The CAF are fully aware of recent
efforts by China to conduct surveillance operations in Canadian airspace and
maritime approaches,” the spokesperson said, adding the forces had stopped
attempts to surveil Canadian territory since 2022.
The Chinese embassy in Ottawa did not
immediately respond to an emailed request for comment.
Over the weekend, China’s top diplomat
Wang Yi said the U.S. handling of the balloon incident had been “unimaginable”
and “hysterical,” an “absurd” act that had violated international norms.
(Reporting by Ismail Shakil and Steve Scherer in Ottawa; Editing by Chris
Reese)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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