COSCO ships equipped with hidden gear allegedly spy on military communications for China
Senior former US officials allege that state-owned carrier COSCO has fitted its vessels with concealed equipment to intercept military communications for Beijing across several continents.
According to two senior officials from the former Trump administration, China's state-owned shipping company COSCO has installed hidden intelligence-gathering equipment on its vessels to capture military communications and encryption developments. The partnership, described as decades-long, reportedly enables Beijing to collect signals from ships and aircraft operating near coastlines throughout Europe, North America and Asia.
The advanced gear is said to feed data on military communications technologies back to Chinese authorities. COSCO did not respond to a request for comment, and China's embassy in Washington dismissed the claims. The report was published by U.S. News and World Report.
Why it matters
The alleged use of commercial ships for espionage raises concerns about maritime security and intelligence gathering worldwide.
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