U.S. administration officials allege that China’s state-run shipping giant COSCO has equipped its vessels with concealed signals intelligence systems to gather military communications data from North America, Europe, and Asia. The claim, reported by Reuters and attributed to unnamed officials, describes a decades-long partnership between COSCO and Beijing under China’s 2017 National Intelligence Law, which compels organizations and citizens to support state intelligence work.
The alleged systems are described as sophisticated platforms capable of recording and transmitting data on military communications technologies and encryption developments. While the exact hardware remains unspecified, officials note that modern commercial ships already carry extensive antenna arrays that could conceal such equipment. Data could be processed onboard or transmitted via satellite links to nodes in China for analysis.
The report follows prior assessments of China’s maritime militia, where civilian vessels—including fishing fleets—are reportedly tasked with intelligence collection. Similar practices have been documented in Russia’s use of its ‘shadow fleet’ for sanctions evasion and secondary intelligence roles. U.S. authorities have not detailed any immediate countermeasures beyond COSCO’s 2025 inclusion on a Pentagon list of military-linked companies.
China’s embassy in Washington has denied the allegations, calling them baseless.
