Why Chinese Fighter Jets Endangered Lives Of Crew Onboard Canadian Helicopter?

China's attempt to establish its hegemony over the South China Sea is leading to confrontation with other nations time and again. While Taiwan, the Philippines, and Malaysia are already wary of Chinese aggression, Canada has openly voiced concern over Chinese military aggression. Canadian Defence Minister Bill Blair said that Chinese fighter jets buzzed a Canadian helicopter over in the South China Sea last weekend and then fired flares at it. Blair said that the incidents had put the crew in danger. The relation between China and Canada has been in trumoil for the past few years and further soured after Chinese President Xi Jinping rebuked Canadian  Prime Minister Justin Trudeau during the G20 even last year over 'leaked' discussions.

It was the second time in the last two weeks that Canada has accused China's air force of unsafe behaviour. Blair said a Chinese jet initially flew right over the helicopter, causing it to experience significant turbulence. He said that another jet launched flares directly in front of the helicopter, forcing it to swerve to avoid being hit later during the day.

After the first event in mid-October when a Chinese jet flew at a very close distance from a Canadian jet, Beijing had said that the Canadian plane violated China's sovereignty. China has been at loggerheads with several countries over control of the South China Sea. China also seized Scarborough Shoal in the South China Sea in 2012 after a standoff with the Philippines and has been controlling the area since then. China had refused to recognise even the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague in this case. 

China asserts its sovereignty over nearly the entirety of the South China Sea, encompassing portions of the exclusive economic zones of Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam. In a landmark ruling in 2016, the Permanent Court of Arbitration declared that China's territorial claims lacked a legal foundation. While Japan does not make any territorial claims in the South China Sea, it does grapple with a maritime dispute involving China in the East China Sea.