China sends spy ship to monitor US-led Rimpac war games off Hawaii
Surveillance vessel may be used to get information about communication channels, but it’s not breaking international law, military experts say
China has sent a spy ship to monitor the US-led Rim of the Pacific drill under way in waters off Hawaii, according to US media reports, after its navy was excluded from the event amid simmering tensions over the South China Sea.
Chinese military experts said the ship could be used to obtain information about communication channels, but it was not breaking international law by being there.
US Pacific Fleet spokesman Captain Charlie Brown told USNI News on Friday that a Chinese surveillance ship had been operating within 200 nautical miles of the exclusive economic zone off the coast of Hawaii since Wednesday.
“The US Pacific Fleet has been monitoring a Chinese navy surveillance ship operating in the vicinity of Hawaii outside US territorial seas,” Brown was quoted as saying.
“We expect the ship will remain outside the territorial seas of the US and not operate in a manner that disrupts the ongoing Rimpac exercise.”
The PLA Navy auxiliary general intelligence ship is a Dongdiao-class – the type China has previously sent to monitor the war games in both 2016 and 2014, the report said.