Berlin Summons Chinese Ambassador After Warship Targeted German Plane With Laser

Germany is blistering angry, and has summoned the Chinese ambassador, after its military alleged that a China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) vessel targeted a German aircraft with a laser during a European Union joint operation.

“Endangering German personnel & disrupting the operation is entirely unacceptable,” Germany’s foreign office said in a Tuesday past on X. “The Chinese ambassador was summoned to the Federal Foreign Office today.”

The incident reportedly happened in the Indian Ocean and Red Sea areas, amid the EU’s Operation ASPIDES, which seeks to secure international shipping from piracy and other attacks.

Der Spiegel has described that “Possible damage is still unclear and is still being investigated” – in reference to a German reconnaissance plane of unspecified type which was apparently operating over waters off Yemen’s coast.

German media reports indicate that the aircraft was approaching a Chinese frigate at the time, thus the laser deployment may have been a defensive response, which is not uncommon among military vessels approached by unknown or foreign aircraft.

The following details have also been revealed:

A German defense ministry spokesperson said the aircraft involved in the incident earlier this month was a multi-sensor platform plane. Known as a “flying eye” for its wide-range surveillance capabilities over the sea, it is piloted by civilians with military personnel on board.

The aircraft was conducting a “routine operation flight over the Red Sea” when it was “targeted by a laser without reason or prior contact by a Chinese warship that had already been encountered several times in the sea area”, the spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “By using the laser, the warship accepted risk to people and property.”

And Newsweek has separately reviewed, “In 2018, the Pentagon accused Chinese nationals of shining military-grade laser pointers at US pilots operating out of the US base in Djibouti, which is used for counter-terrorism operations in east Africa and Yemen.”

“In one case, two pilots on a C-130 cargo plane reportedly suffered minor eye injuries as they came in to land at the base,” the report noted.

The EU mission in these waters has been active since February 2024, which has been touted as a necessary defensive maritime security operation to safeguard Red Sea navigation.

The Chinese military employed a laser targeting a German aircraft in the EU operation #ASPIDES. Endangering German personnel & disrupting the operation is entirely unacceptable. The Chinese ambassador was summoned to the Federal Foreign Office today.

— GermanForeignOffice (@GermanyDiplo) July 8, 2025

The United States recently withdrew from its conflict with the Houthis, and there’s been an uneasy maritime ceasefire involving the US Navy, but other ships have just this week come under attack.

Washington had long urged for Europe to step up its defenses of these regional waterways, something which does appear to be happening at least on a limited basis.