(DEFENCE SECURITY ASIA) – Early this month, a United States Coast Guard ship reported the presence of Chinese warships within the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) of the country in the Bering Sea, not far from Alaska.
The U.S. Coast Guard vessel, USCGC Kimball, detected three Chinese warships approximately 124 miles north of Amchitka Pass, a strait in the Aleutian Islands near the Alaska Peninsula.
Additionally, the crew of a U.S. Coast Guard surveillance aircraft based on Kodiak Island spotted another Chinese warship about 84 miles north of Amukta Pass, situated between Amutka and Seguam Islands.
According to the U.S. Coast Guard, although the Chinese warships were in international waters, they were still within the U.S. EEZ waters, which extends 200 nautical miles from the US coast.
U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) was aware of the presence of the Chinese warships.
The U.S. Coast Guard issued a statement noting that USCGC Kimball was patrolling under Operation Frontier Sentinel to address strategic competitors in and around U.S. waters.
Rear Admiral Megan Dean, Commander of the U.S. Coast Guard, said, “We are facing competitors to ensure there is no disruption to U.S. interests in the maritime areas around Alaska.”
The U.S. Coast Guard successfully established communication with the Chinese warships, which stated that they were in the waters around Alaska as part of a “freedom of navigation” operation.
USCGC Kimball monitored the Chinese warships until they sailed south toward the northern Pacific Ocean.
The U.S. Coast Guard also mentioned that Chinese warships had been detected in the Bering Sea in 2021 and 2022.
The recent incident followed a similar encounter in August last year when 11 Russian and Chinese warships were spotted conducting joint exercises and patrols in the Aleutian Islands in Alaskan waters.
This incident was described by U.S. leaders as “unprecedented” and “historic.”
Alaska, the northernmost state in North America, borders the Bering Strait and is the closest U.S. territory to Russia, with Little Diomede Island (U.S.) being only about 4 km from Big Diomede Island (Russia).
When news of the Russian and Chinese military activities surfaced, the Wall Street Journal described the presence of Russian and Chinese warships near U.S. territorial waters as “highly provocative” given the ongoing war in Ukraine and China’s aggressive stance around Taiwan.
Alaska Republican Senator Dan Sullivan told Fox News that the actions of the Russian and Chinese warships near U.S. territorial waters were unprecedented.
“This has never happened before, particularly involving the scope and size of the Russian and Chinese naval fleet, working so closely together.”
“Whether you live in Alaska or elsewhere in the United States, the presence of warships from two ‘competitor’ countries very close to the United States is concerning,” he said.
In response to the presence of the 11 Russian and Chinese warships near Alaskan waters, the U.S. Navy deployed four destroyers and a P-8 Poseidon maritime patrol aircraft to shadow the movements of the “enemy” vessels.
The Russian and Chinese fleet included the destroyers RFS Admiral Panteleyev (548) and RFS Admiral Tributs (564), the corvettes RFS Gremyashchiy (337) and RFS Hero of the Russian Federation Aldar Tsydenzhapov (339), and the supply ship Pechenga.
The Chinese warships consisted of the destroyers CNS Guiyang (119) and CNS Qiqihar (121), the frigates CNS Zaozhuang (542) and CNS Rizhao (598), and the supply ship CNS Taihu (889). — DSA