Chinese warships intrude into Alaska’s economic zone days before NATO summit

Four Chinese warships intruded into the U.S. economic exclusion zone near Alaska’s far western Aleutian Islands just two days before NATO leaders met in Washington and added China to its list of security threats.

The People’s Liberation Army ships conducted what it called “freedom of navigation” operations north of the Aleutians, the U.S. Coast Guard’s Alaska station said in a statement last week.

The passage of three warships took place July 6 and 7 about 124 miles north of the Amchitka pass located between the Rat Islands and the Andreanof Islands. A fourth warship was spotted by a Coast Guard HC-130 long-range maritime patrol aircraft about 84 miles north of the Amukta Pass, near Adak, also in the far western Aleutians.

It was the third time since 2021 that China dispatched warships near Alaska.

In August, a flotilla of 11 Chinese and Russian warships sailed near the far northern state, prompting Navy warships ships to shadow the ships.

The latest naval incursion did not include Russian ships, but the four Chinese warships were tracked transiting the U.S. economic zone two days before the landmark 75th anniversary NATO summit in Washington.

The Western military alliance’s summit communique, issued Wednesday, for the first time identified China as a threat to the Atlantic alliance, citing in part Beijing’s support for Russia’s military, China’s rapid nuclear buildup and ubiquitous cyberattacks. The designation brought an angry response from the Chinese Foreign Ministry a day later.

China’s naval activities near Alaska are viewed by analysts as significant because Article V of the NATO founding treaty states that any attack on NATO members in Europe or North America would be considered an attack on all members, analysts say, and would require each to respond.

The Coast Guard sought to play down the incursion, stating that the flotilla appeared non-threatening and was monitored together with the military’s Northern Command.

A spokesman for the Northcom, which is in charge of military homeland security, referred questions about the incursion to the Coast Guard.

A Coast Guard spokesman declined to provide additional details on the incident, including the identity of the types of warships that sailed near Alaska.

Henri Kenhmann, a China affairs analyst who runs the East Pendulum website, identified one of the Chinese warships as a Type 055 guided missile destroyer that the United States considers a cruiser because of its size.

The stealth cruiser is considered one of China’s premier warships and is armed with 112 missile tubes.

“The Chinese naval presence operated in accordance with international rules and norms,” Rear Adm. Megan Dean, commander of the Coast Guard Seventeenth District in Juneau said in the statement. “We met presence with presence to ensure there were no disruptions to U.S. interests in the maritime environment around Alaska.”

Rick Fisher, a China affairs analyst, questioned the lack of response to the incident from Hawaii-based Indo-Pacific Command since the cutter Kimball is based in Hawaii.

“This PLA navy group intimidating Alaska should have been fully exposed with generous U.S. Navy or Air Force imagery in print and television press coverage,” said Mr. Fisher, with the International Assessment and Strategy Center. “In the not-too-distant future a growing fleet of PLA navy nuclear attack submarines will be seeking out U.S. Navy nuclear ballistic missile submarines and Americans deserve warning of these threats.”

The presence of a Type 055 cruiser, if confirmed, is significant since the warship is one of the PLA’s largest and most modern warships, Mr. Fisher added, and could potentially be equipped with tactical nuclear-armed YJ-21 anti-ship ballistic missiles.

The joint Chinese and Russian surface action group in 2023 included what U.S. officials said was a new Nanchang-class cruiser capable of firing over 100 guided missiles, and several Russian destroyers. Those ships were monitored by four Navy-guided missile destroyers.

Sen. Dan Sullivan, Alaska Republican, wrote on the social media site X that he was briefed by the Coast Guard on the latest Chinese naval incursion and praised the service for tracking the vessels.

“Our military needs to be ready for increasing Chinese — and joint Chinese and Russian — military activity near Alaska’s coast,” he said. “I also met yesterday morning with the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff [Gen. Charles Q. Brown] and specifically raised this issue — how America must be much more prepared for the increasing activity in the Arctic, and to also let Alaskans know that our military is on the job protecting our state and our country.”

The warship passage also coincided with the annual “Rim of the Pacific” international naval exercises now ongoing near Hawaii. China in the past has dispatched intelligence-gather ships to spy on the exercises, which this year involve the U.S. and 28 other nations.

During the latest warship activities, the Coast Guard cutter Kimball monitored the ships that were not identified by type, the Coast Guard said in a statement.

The warships transited international waters inside the U.S. exclusive economic zone that extends 200 nautical miles from U.S. shores.

In radio communications, the Chinese said the activities were part of a freedom of navigation operations.

China regularly protests U.S. Navy and allied warships conducting freedom of navigation operations in the South China Sea, where Beijing has claimed some 90% of that waterway as its maritime territory. Those claims are sharply disputed by the U.S. and several smaller East Asian countries.

The United States regards the sea as international waters and on a nearly monthly basis sends warships into the South China Sea, often drawing protests from the Chinese government that the ships did not request permission in advance of the operations.

The Navy has said its free navigation operations are intended to counter excessive maritime claims by China and other states.

The Coast Guard did not respond to an email request seeking further information about the Chinese warship incursion.

The Kimball was patrolling the region as part of what the Coast Guard calls Operation Frontier Sentinel, intended to monitor “strategic competitors” sailing in and around U.S. waters.

“The U.S Coast Guard’s presence strengthens the international rules-based order and promotes the conduct of operations in a manner that follows international norms,” the statement said.

The Kimball is a 418-foot cutter based in Honolulu.

The Chinese surface action group activity near Alaska followed the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s annual joint patrol with Russian navy ships in the Pacific.

The second time China sailed warships near Alaska was in September 2022 when the Kimball monitored Chinese and Russia warships in the Bering Sea.