According to an open-source allegation, the navy of Taiwan evicted a Chinese spy ship that was approaching Taiwanese waters on Tuesday. The vessel is known to often monitor military drills in the Pacific by the United States and its allies.
A Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy Type 815A electronic surveillance vessel went southwards past Suao, Taiwan’s eastern port, and reached within 24 nautical miles of the coast, according to Taiwan ADIZ, an organization that spots planes and ships.
The outline of a Type 815A spy ship can be identified by the flat top of its front radome.
According to PLA studies, the Type 815 and its improvements are characterized as the intelligence-gathering vessels of the Chinese Navy’s surface fleet.
In August 2022, in reaction to the high-profile visit of then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to Taipei, the PLA Navy sent warships closer to Taiwan’s coastlines.
China’s military conducts daily operations around the island, but they have avoided entering Taiwanese territorial waters, which Taipei considers a “red line” that would provoke a strong reaction.
The Chinese spy ship, which Taiwan ADIZ reports as belonging to the class Dongdiao II—classified by NATO—did not respond to radio warnings sent by the Taiwanese navy.
Spies have been spotted cruising the islands of Japan for a while now. While they are most often seen gathering information on Western fleet activities and armament systems, they have also been spotted in deeper parts of the Pacific, such as off the coast of Alaska in 2017.
Dongdiao, the only Type 815 electronic intelligence-gathering vessel in the PLA Navy, is the ancestor of China’s Type 815A ships, according to NATO reports.
The ship is equipped with electronic jammer technology, which allows it to protect itself and hide from enemies, and its enormous antennas and radars can detect hostile activities from hundreds of miles away.
In an unusual move, Chinese coast guardsmen inspected a Taiwanese tourist boat off its coasts on Monday.
It followed the agency’s promise to increase patrols in the wake of last week’s tragic loss of life in Kinmen waters when a speedboat carrying two Chinese fishermen ran aground while attempting to evade the Taiwan Coast Guard.
Matthew Miller, a spokesman for the United States Department of State, stated on Tuesday that Washington is closely monitoring Beijing’s reaction and urged caution.
