In a recent encounter, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter on routine patrol detected multiple Chinese military vessels within the U.S. exclusive economic zone in the Bering Sea, officials confirmed.
What Happened: The U.S. Coast Guard cutter discovered three Chinese vessels about 124 miles north of the Amchitka Pass in the Aleutian Islands, Associated Press reported on Thursday. A Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak helicopter aircrew later identified a fourth ship approximately 84 miles north of the Amukta Pass.
The vessels, owned by the People's Republic of China, were “transiting in international waters but still inside the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone,” which extends 200 nautical miles from the U.S. shoreline, the Coast Guard statement clarified.
Rear Adm. Megan Dean, Seventeenth Coast Guard District commander, stated, "The Chinese naval presence operated in accordance with international rules and norms. We met presence with presence to ensure there were no disruptions to U.S. interests in the maritime environment around Alaska."
Previous instances of Chinese naval ships sailing near Alaska waters have been recorded. In September 2022, a guided missile cruiser from China was spotted in the Bering Sea by the Kimball. And in Sept. 2021, Coast Guard cutters in the Bering Sea and North Pacific Ocean encountered Chinese ships, about 50 miles off the Aleutian Islands.
Why It Matters: The U.S. military regularly conducts what it terms as freedom of navigation operations in disputed waters in Asia that China claims as its own, deploying Navy ships to sail through waterways such as the South China Sea. The U.S. maintains that freedom of navigation in these waters is in America's national interest.
This encounter comes amid escalating tensions between the U.S. and China. Satellite images from May 2024 showed the Chinese military practicing strikes on replicas of U.S. fighter jets in the Taklamakan Desert.
Furthermore, U.S. Ambassador to China, Nicholas Burns, accused Beijing of undermining diplomatic relations and taking steps to sabotage engagement between ordinary Chinese and American citizens.
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Photo by Tatiana Popova and rawf8 via Shuttterstock
This story was generated using Benzinga Neuro and edited by Pooja Rajkumari
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