Overview

• A Chinese warship deployed a laser beam at a German multi-sensor surveillance plane conducting Operation Aspides patrols over the southern Red Sea on July 2 without warning.
• German officials summoned Ambassador Deng Hongbo to Berlin to lodge a formal protest, condemning the act as unacceptable endangerment of personnel and disruption of the EU mission.
• The aircraft aborted its flight as a precaution, landed safely in Djibouti with no injuries, and has since rejoined the EU’s Aspides surveillance operations.
• Operation Aspides, launched in February 2024 under the EU’s Common Security and Defence Policy, provides defensive escort and reconnaissance against attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
• Beijing has so far remained silent in public, leaving Germany’s diplomatic protest unanswered.