A Chinese spy ship was spotted shadowing an American aircraft carrier during a trilateral exercise between the United States and two of its allies in Northeast Asian waters.
The encounter was featured in a television report on Friday by Japan's Fuji News Network (FNN) and occurred during Freedom Edge, an exercise involving U.S., Japanese and South Korean forces that began on November 13 in the East China Sea, south of South Korea's Jeju Island.
The exercise featured USS George Washington, one of 11 aircraft carriers in service with the U.S. Navy. It returned to its home port at Yokosuka naval base in the Greater Tokyo Area on Friday.
According to FNN's footage and report, a Chinese navy intelligence-gathering vessel was seen monitoring the Freedom Edge exercise while underway near the George Washington. It was identified as Type 815 spy ship CNS Beijixing (meaning Polaris) based on its silhouette.
Newsweek has emailed the U.S. Navy and the Chinese Defense Ministry for comment.
The Chinese spy ship, which specializes in electronic and signals intelligence collection, has been underway in the East China Sea since at least October 30, when it was transiting south of Japan's main island of Kyushu, the Japanese Defense Ministry reported.
The Beijixing is one of more than 370 ships and submarines in service with the Chinese navy, which is the biggest in the world by hull count, according to a U.S. military report last year. The U.S. has the largest "flattop" fleet among all the naval forces.
The Pentagon said China has deployed its fleet of spy ships to collect intelligence on military exercises such as the U.S.-led RIMPAC exercises off Hawaii in 2014, 2018 and 2022, as well as the Talisman Sabre exercises off Australia in 2017, 2019 and 2021.
China is wary of the George Washington because the aircraft carrier's capabilities have improved significantly, said Rahm Emanuel, the U.S. ambassador to Japan, regarding the return of the 100,000-ton warship for its second deployment to Yokosuka following a nine-year absence.
Following its first forward deployment to Japan from 2008 to 2015, the ship underwent an upgrade and modernization at a shipyard in Virginia from 2017 to 2023, enabling it to operate more advanced carrier-based aircraft.
These include the F-35C Lightning II supersonic stealth strike fighter, which the U.S. Navy says makes the George Washington's operational naval aviation unit, Carrier Air Wing 5, "more lethal" with their stealth and sensing capabilities.
The aircraft carrier is now also operating with a new model of the E-2D Hawkeye, a command-and-control aircraft that comes with air refueling capability and a significant sensor upgrade, meaning it can detect long-range threats and extend its time in the air.
The tilt-rotor CMV-22B Osprey, which flies as a fixed-wing aircraft and takes off and lands as a helicopter, is also deployed with the George Washington. It is a "game changer" as it does not require catapults or arresting wires for flight operations, according to the U.S. Navy.
English (US) ·