The maritime surveillance aircraft was part of the EU mission Aspides, which is intended to better defend civilian ships against attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels.
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Germany's Foreign Office said on Tuesday that it has summoned the Chinese ambassador to protest after a Chinese warship used a laser against a German military aircraft in the Red Sea.
"The endangerment of German personnel" and the "disruption of the operation" are "completely unacceptable," the ministry said in a statement on social media platform X on Tuesday.
The maritime surveillance aircraft was part of the EU mission Aspides, which is intended to better defend civilian ships against attacks by Yemen's Houthi rebels.
It was lasered earlier this month "without any reason or prior contact" by a Chinese warship that had been encountered several times in the area, the German Defence Ministry said.
The ministry said that as a precaution, the aircraft's mission was aborted.
It landed safely at a base in Djibouti, and the crew is in good health, it said. The aircraft has since resumed its operations with the EU mission in the Red Sea.
China's spokespeople have not immediately commented.
The EU mission only defends civilian vessels and does not take part in any military strikes. The southern part of the Red Sea is deemed a high-risk zone.
On Tuesday, Yemen's Houthi rebels continued an attack targeting a Liberian-flagged cargo ship in the Red Sea, authorities said, after the group claimed to have sunk another vessel in an assault that threatens to renew combat across the vital waterway.