ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A U.S. Coast Guard officer on routine patrol in the Bering Sea encountered several Chinese military vessels in international waters, but within the U.S. exclusive economic zone, officials said Wednesday.
The crew spotted three vessels about 124 miles (200 kilometers) north of Amchitka Pass in the Aleutian Islands, the Coast Guard said in a statement. A short time later, a helicopter crew from Coast Guard Air Station Kodiak spotted a fourth vessel about 84 miles (135 kilometers) north of Amukta Pass.
All four PRC vessels “were transiting through international waters but were still within the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone,” which extends 200 nautical miles (370 kilometers) from the U.S. coastline, the statement said.
“The Chinese naval presence operated in accordance with international rules and norms,” said Rear Adm. Megan Dean, commander of the 17th Coast Guard District. “We met presence with presence to ensure there were no disruptions to U.S. interests in the maritime environment around Alaska.”
The U.S. Coast Guard cutter Kimball is a 410-foot (127-meter) vessel based in Honolulu.
It was not the first time that Chinese naval vessels sailed near Alaskan waters. September 2022The Kimball spotted a Chinese guided-missile cruiser in the Bering Sea. And in September 2021, Coast Guard officials in the Bering Sea and the North Pacific Ocean encountered Chinese vessels about 50 miles (80 kilometers) from the Aleutian Islands.
The U.S. military routinely conducts what it calls freedom of navigation operations in disputed waters in Asia that China claims as its own, deploying naval vessels to navigate waterways such as the South China Sea. The U.S. says freedom of navigation in the waters in America’s National Interest.