ANCHORAGE, Alaska: During a routine patrol in the Bering Sea, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter came across several Chinese military ships in international waters but within the U.S. exclusive economic zone.
The Coast Guard said on July 10 that three vessels were detected approximately 124 miles north of the Amchitka Pass in the Aleutian Islands. A little later, a helicopter aircrew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak spotted a fourth ship approximately 84 miles north of the Amukta Pass.
All four vessels belonged to the People’s Republic of China and 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 Chinese vessels told the Coast Guard their purpose for being there was “freedom of navigation operations.”
The Coast Guard said there is no requirement for foreign nations to proactively contact a country before entering their Exclusive Economic Zone. However, the Chinese vessels responded when the Coast Guard reached out by radio.
The Coast Guard did not say how long the Chinese ships were in the Exclusive Economic Zone, but they were monitored until they transited south of the Aleutian Islands and into the North Pacific Ocean.
The sighting came a week after the Chinese navy began its annual joint patrol with the Russian navy in the Pacific Ocean.
Aaron Davenport, a retired senior Coast Guard officer, said it is similar to how the U.S. has deployed Coast Guard or other ships to the Taiwan Strait to uphold freedom of navigation and support American allies in the region – with the important distinction that the Aleutian Islands are part of the U.S. The Taiwan Strait separates Taiwan from China, which claims Taiwan as its own territory.
