The German foreign ministry summoned the Chinese ambassador, and accused the Chinese military of aiming a laser at a German plane participating in an EU operation to secure the routes in the Red Sea, Reuters reports.

Endangering German personnel and disrupting the mission is absolutely unacceptable, the German foreign ministry said.

According to the German defense ministry, the incident occurred in early July during a scheduled flight of a Multi-Sensor Platform (MSP) reconnaissance aircraft operating as part of the ASPIDES mission and monitoring the situation in the region.

A Chinese warship, which has repeatedly encountered the area, had aimed a laser at the plane without warning, as a result of which the crew was forced to abort the flight and land safely at a base in Djibouti.

The use of lasers has endangered the safety of people and equipment, the German defense ministry said.

Berlin stressed that the MSP mission has resumed its activities.

The aforesaid system is operated by a civilian contractor, and data collection is important for the safety of all partners.