The US Coast Guard says it has spotted four Chinese warships “transiting in international waters…inside the US exclusive economic zone” north of the Aleutian Islands’ Amchitka Pass and north of the Amukta Pass between Amukta and Seguam Islands.
The ships reportedly passed through the area last Saturday and Sunday, but the Coast Guard curiously didn’t report their passage until Wednesday. The Coast Guard did not offer any information regarding the types of Chinese ships it had encountered, but said three of the ships were detected by the USCGC Kimball cutter. A Coast Guard aircraft stationed on Kodiak Island spotted the fourth Chinese vessel.
“The Chinese naval presence operated in accordance with international rules and norms,” Coast Guard 17th District commander Rear Admiral Megan Dean said. “We met presence with presence to ensure there were no disruptions to US interests in the maritime environment around Alaska.”
The Chinese warships’ transit came just days after China and Russia began joint naval drills in another part of the Pacific. Gathering south of South Korea, Russian and Chinese vessels traveled south, kicking off their fourth joint Russian-Chinese maritime patrol in the Asia-Pacific region. The patrol’s objectives include efforts to “strengthen naval cooperation between Russia and China, maintain peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region, monitor the maritime area and protect economic facilities of the Russian Federation and China,” according to the Russian Navy.
The Chinese deployment near the Aleutians came on the eve of NATO’s summit in Washington this week. The People’s Republic was mentioned repeatedly in the bloc’s post-summit communique, and by NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
Commenting on the ongoing Chinese-Belarusian joint drills taking place in Brest, southwestern Belarus on Thursday, Stoltenberg slammed China for “coming closer to NATO, in Europe, in Africa, in the Arctic and elsewhere.” A day earlier, the Washington Summit Declaration mentioned China over a dozen times, blasting the country over its “‘no-limits’ partnership’ with Russia, calling it a “decisive enabler” of the crisis in Ukraine, and labeling Beijing a “challenge” to the alliance’s “interests, security and values.”
China’s diplomatic mission in Brussels slammed the statement, saying “NATO should stop hyping up the so-called China threat and provoking confrontation and rivalry, and do more to contribute to world peace and stability.” China did not create the Ukraine crisis, the mission emphasized, adding that NATO should avoid becoming “the disruptor of peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region” by staying out.