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| Dongdiao class Auxiliary General Intelligence (AGI) ship |
By Zachary Keck
Despite being a participant in RIMPAC, China has sent an electronic surveillance ship to spy on the maritime exercise.
China has sent an electronic surveillance ship to spy on the Rim of the Pacific maritime exercise, the U.S. Navy has announced.
On Friday, USNI News reported that a Dongdiao-class auxiliary general intelligence (AGI) ship arrived in waters right near the exercise just days before it began. According to USNI News, which quoted unnamed sources, that the ship is “designed to gather electronic and communication data from surrounding vessels and aircraft.”
The U.S. Pacific Command refused to confirm the exact type of ship that China had sent, or speculate about its purpose. However, Capt. Darryn James, a spokesman for U.S. Pacific Fleet, told USNI News on Friday: “The U.S. Pacific Fleet has been monitoring a Chinese navy surveillance ship operating in the vicinity of Hawaii outside U.S. territorial seas…. We expect this ship will remain outside of U.S. territorial seas and not operate in a manner that disrupts the ongoing Rim of the Pacific maritime exercise.”
Read the full story at The Diplomat