Chinese fishermen find drone ship ‘used for spying by a foreign country’

Vessel equipped with antennas and surveillance equipment discovered off Jiangsu, according to state media

Military commentator says United States has deployed a ‘large number’ of drones in waters near China

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The 3-metre unmanned vessel was found near Yancheng in the Yellow Sea, according to the state broadcaster. Photo: CCTV

Published: 9:00pm, 16 Apr 2021Updated: 9:00pm, 16 Apr 2021

A drone ship used for intelligence gathering “by a foreign country” has been found by Chinese fishermen off the nation’s east coast, according to state media.

The small unmanned ship – equipped with solar panels, antennas and surveillance equipment – was hauled from the water by a fishing boat near Jiangsu province recently, state broadcaster CCTV reported on Wednesday.

The fishermen handed the 3-metre vessel to an unnamed national research institute, which described it as “a reconnaissance device secretly placed by a foreign country in China’s waters”, the report said.

It did not give further details of the drone ship, but mainland military watchers posted on social media that the images looked similar to the Wave Glider – an autonomous boat that is wave- and solar-powered, built by US company Liquid Robotics, a Boeing subsidiary.

The drone ship was found off Yancheng in the Yellow Sea – near the East China Sea – and according to CCTV it could have been used to monitor activity in the area, posing a threat to “underwater targets”.

It comes months after Indonesian fishermen found a Chinese-made “sea glider” underwater drone off the island of Sulawesi in December, sparking concern over its potential use for espionage there.

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