ANCHORAGE: A US Coast Guard cutter on routine patrol in the Bering Sea fell on several Chinese military ships international waters but in the United States exclusive economic zoneofficials said Wednesday.
The crew detected three vessels about 124 miles (200 kilometers) north of the Amchitka Pass in the Aleutian Islandsthe Coast Guard said in a statement. Shortly afterward, a helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak spotted a fourth vessel about 85 miles north of Amukta Pass.
The four People’s Republic of China vessels “were transiting international waters but were still within the United States’ exclusive economic zone,” which extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the U.S. coast, the statement said.
“The Chinese naval presence operated in accordance with international rules and norms,” he said. Rear Admiral Megan DeanCommander of the Seventeenth Coast Guard District. “We met presence by presence to ensure that there was no disruption to American interests in the maritime environment around Alaska.”
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kimball is a 418-foot (127-meter) vessel based in Honolulu.
It was not the first time Chinese warships Coast Guard ships have sailed near Alaskan waters. In September 2022, the Kimball spotted a Chinese guided-missile cruiser in the Bering Sea. And in September 2021, Coast Guard cutters in the Bering Sea and North Pacific Ocean encountered Chinese vessels, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the Aleutian Islands.
The U.S. military regularly conducts freedom of navigation operations in disputed waters in Asia that China claims as its own, deploying navy ships to navigate waterways such as the South China Sea. The United States says freedom of navigation in those waters is in the U.S. national interest.
The crew detected three vessels about 124 miles (200 kilometers) north of the Amchitka Pass in the Aleutian Islandsthe Coast Guard said in a statement. Shortly afterward, a helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak spotted a fourth vessel about 85 miles north of Amukta Pass.
The four People’s Republic of China vessels “were transiting international waters but were still within the United States’ exclusive economic zone,” which extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the U.S. coast, the statement said.
“The Chinese naval presence operated in accordance with international rules and norms,” he said. Rear Admiral Megan DeanCommander of the Seventeenth Coast Guard District. “We met presence by presence to ensure that there was no disruption to American interests in the maritime environment around Alaska.”
The U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Kimball is a 418-foot (127-meter) vessel based in Honolulu.
It was not the first time Chinese warships Coast Guard ships have sailed near Alaskan waters. In September 2022, the Kimball spotted a Chinese guided-missile cruiser in the Bering Sea. And in September 2021, Coast Guard cutters in the Bering Sea and North Pacific Ocean encountered Chinese vessels, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the Aleutian Islands.
The U.S. military regularly conducts freedom of navigation operations in disputed waters in Asia that China claims as its own, deploying navy ships to navigate waterways such as the South China Sea. The United States says freedom of navigation in those waters is in the U.S. national interest.
