Beijing refutes Pentagon assertion that PLAN destroyer lased USN MPA near Guam

摘要

China's Ministry of National Defense (MND) has refuted the assertion by the US Department of Defense (DoD) that a People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) destroyer lased a US Navy (USN) P-8A Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) that was flying in airspace above international waters near Guam on 17 February. In a statement posted on 6 March on its official WeChat account the ministry said that media reports on the incident "did not accord with the facts". MND spokesperson Senior Colonel Ren Guoqiang said that the P-8A aircraft carried out "a long period of circling reconnaissance manoeuvres at low altitude, despite repeated warnings from the Chinese side".