China's Ocean Spy Ship Maps Deep Sea in Strategic Waters

Chinese spy vessel Xiang Yang Hong 3 has become a focal point of regional controversy after navigating through strategic waters of the Indian Ocean.

The shipleft the port of Sanya in China's southern Hainan province on January 16 and reached the Maldivian port of Malé on Thursday, according to MarineTraffic, a ship-tracking service.

The Maldives is strategically located on a crossroads of trade routes in the Indian Ocean, and has recently developed close ties with Beijing.

The Xiang Yang Hong 3 is said to be a research vessel managed by China's Third Institute of Oceanography, but experts believe the vessel has links to the People's Liberation Army (PLA).

The Xiang Yang Hong series of vessels is believed to support China's dual-use maritime research and submarine warfare capabilities, including mapping the ocean floor for submarine warfare, Newsweek reported earlier.

With the largest fleet of civilian research vessels globally, China's maritime activities have raised concerns among regional and Western observers about the potential for intelligence gathering and geopolitical maneuvering.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin recently said that the Xiang Yang Hong 3's mission was scientific ocean exploration.

"China's scientific research activities in relevant waters are for peaceful purposes and aimed at contributing to humanity's scientific understanding of the ocean. The activities are in strict compliance with the terms of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea," Wang said on February 7 during the regular press briefing.

Maldives signaled approval for the Xiang Yang Hong 3 after Sri Lanka denied it docking rights in December, following a request from India over concerns about the ship's links to the PLA. The Maldivian foreign ministry said in January that the vessel would "make a port call, for rotation of personnel and replenishment."

The controversy comes as Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu has sought to grow relations with Beijing over its traditional ties with New Delhi.

Muizzu, elected in September 2023, has personally invested in deepening economic and diplomatic cooperation with China. In January he made a state visit to Beijing, where he met President Xi Jinping and signed 20 agreements, elevating their bilateral ties and marking a shift in the geopolitics of the Indian Ocean region.

The arrival of the Xiang Yang Hong 3 near the Maldives aligns with the commencement of a trilateral naval exercise named Milan-24 involving Indian and Sri Lankan coast guard ships, which will include exercising the rescuing of submarines, Indian national daily Indian Express reported on Wednesday.

Chinese experts have criticized Sri Lanka's decision to deny Xiang Yang Hong 3 access at India's request.

"With the U.S. promoting its Indo-Pacific Strategy by wooing India and the latter's participation in the Quad [strategic security dialogue between Australia, India, Japan and the United States], the regional hegemonic mentality of India is becoming increasingly stronger," Zhao Gancheng, a research fellow from the Shanghai Institute for International Studies, told Chinese state media outlet Global Times.

In January, a report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) think tank in Washington, D.C., said that China's fleet of civilian research vessels supports the country's scientific and commercial objectives but is also used to further Beijing's strategic goals, Newsweek had reported earlier.

The CSIS report said that over 80 percent of China's 64 active research vessels showed suspect behavior or had links to organizations supporting Beijing's geopolitical agenda.

Newsweek contacted the Chinese embassy in Washington, D.C., for comment.

Following Beijing's growing influence in the Maldives, the U.S. has sought to engage with Malé. In 2023, the U.S. State Department opened its first diplomatic mission in the country.

Donald Lu, the U.S. assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, traveled there on January 26.

On February 18, he spoke about the role of the U.S. in the Indian Ocean region and Beijing's growing influence in the Maldives.

"It is a place where China, US, India, lots of countries are competing for influence. The way we will prevail is by offering a better proposition.... my view is that China will be a good partner when there is genuine, actual competition. If there isn't competition, what we have seen over and over again is China offering unsustainable debt for unsustainable projects," Lu said on a panel organized by the U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP), a think tank in Washington D.C.