Chinese Spy Ship Approaches Sensitive Waters

A Chinese spy ship of the class frequently used to monitor United States and allied military exercises in the Pacific approached Taiwan's waters on Tuesday before being expelled by the island's navy, according to an open-source report.

A Type 815A electronic surveillance vessel of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy sailed southwards past Taiwan's eastern port of Suao and came within 24 nautical miles of the coast, said plane and ship spotting group Taiwan ADIZ.

Photographs supplied to Newsweek showed the silhouette of a Type 815A spy ship—distinguishable by the flat top of its front radome—as well as a Taiwan Navy Kee Lung-class destroyer, which had been sent to intercept it.

The PLA Navy began sending warships closer to Taiwan's shores in August 2022 in response to then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's high-profile visit to Taipei.

China's forces operate daily around the island, but they have so far remained outside Taiwanese territorial waters—a "red line" that would necessitate a forceful response, Taipei says.

Taiwan navy radio warnings issued to the Chinese spy ship, which NATO classifies under the class Dongdiao II, went unanswered, according to Taiwan ADIZ.

The Taiwanese and Chinese defense ministry could not be reached for comment.

China's Type 815A ships are a derivative of the PLA Navy's sole Type 815 electronic intelligence-gathering vessel, which has the NATO reporting name Dongdiao.

The ship's powerful antennas and radars can pick up enemy activity hundreds of miles away, and it can defend and conceal itself with electronic jamming equipment.

Studies on the PLA describe the Type 815 and its upgrades as the eyes and ears of the Chinese Navy's surface fleet.

In recent years, the spy ships have been seen encircling Japan's islands. But they also have been detected deep in the Pacific, including off Alaska in 2017, often collecting intelligence on Western weapons systems and fleet operations.

The Australian- and American-led multinational exercise known as Talisman Saber, held every two years, has attracted at least one Chinese spy ship since 2017. Last summer, Australia released photographs of a Type 815 off the state of Queensland in the Coral Sea.

Like U.S. Navy surveillance assets deployed throughout Asia, the Chinese ships operate close to coastlines while remaining legally in international waters. Observers expect more of the same as the PLA learns to deploy its warships at greater distances and for longer durations.

Beijing claims Taiwan as its own despite Taipei's rejections. For decades, China's leaders, including Xi Jinping, have stated their desire to bring Taiwan under Communist control, but the possibility of U.S. military intervention continues to give them pause.

The island's proximity to China—separated only by a 100-mile strait—means spy ships perhaps tell Chinese military planners little more than what its ground-based radars can already intercept. However, their frequent presence continues to pile pressure on the Taiwanese government.

This week, the old Cold War foes became locked in a simmering dispute in Taiwan's outlying Kinmen islands, just six miles off China's east coast.

Chinese coast guard personnel forcefully inspected a Taiwanese tourist boat off its shores on Monday, a departure from the norm.

It came after the agency vowed to step up patrols following the deaths last week of two Chinese fishermen, whose speedboat capsized while trying to outrun the Taiwan Coast Guard in Kinmen's waters.

U.S. State Department spokesperson Matthew Miller said on Tuesday that Washington was carefully watching Beijing's response while urging restraint.