China Moves Spy Ship to Hawaiian Waters in “Retaliation” Against U.S.

China has sent a surveillance ship to Hawaiian waters for the very first time in an unprecedented move which is being described as a provocative retaliation to the U.S. naval presence in the East China Sea. According to a report by GoldSea.com, a news outlet aimed at Asian-Americans, a 4,000 ton People’s Liberation Army electronic reconnaissance ship was recently spotted near Hawaii within the U.S. 200-nautical mile EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone). The report was also picked up by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser, which ran an article entitled China moves spy ship near isles, Asian media say.
The ship “is equipped with various electronic gear for eavesdropping on radio communications and tracking ships and aircraft. It is also believed to have jamming equipment to interfere with the radio communications of other ships,” according to the report.

The development is unprecedented because China has never sent a ship within the U.S. EEZ, although the U.S. has entered the Chinese EEZ on numerous occasions for decades. It is not known whether the ship violated the territorial waters of the United States, which extend to 12 nautical miles under the 1982 UN convention on the Law of the Sea. The fact that the ship got within 2,400 miles of San Francisco represents “a potential for offensive actions against the US by the Chinese military,” according to the report. The development is apparently part of China’s growing military confidence, which was also exemplified with the country’s recent declassification of its nuclear-armed Xia-class submarine fleet, which according to state media represents an “assassin’s mace that would make adversaries tremble.”

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Published on Oct 28, 2013 - Here is the first ever glimpse Of China's Nuclear Submarine Fleet. The warships from the three fleets of the Chinese Navy reached the West Pacific Ocean to conduct a drill on Thursday. They are respectively from the North China Sea Fleet, the East China Sea Fleet and the South China Sea Fleet. The unit from the East China Sea Fleet, which is composed of two frigates, Zhoushan and Xuzhou, sailed into the West Pacific Ocean at 04:30 on Thursday morning. They are under the command of the guided missile destroyer Guangzhou, which, together with three frigates Huangshan, Zhoushan and Xuzhou, formed the "Red Force".

With various types of shipborne helicopter, the "Red Force" has stronger strike, detection sea and anti-submarine capabilities. In addition, it is also equipped with long-range bomber and can launch long-range air attacks against the "Blue Force".

"The difficulty for us is to detect the targets as far as possible. identify the targets as fast as possible and assess the damage we caused to the targets in a timely manner. But all is ready for us," said Jiang Weilie, commander of the "Red Force".

The "Blue Force" is composed of guided missile destroyers Shijiazhuang and Shenyang and missile frigate Yantai, which also have arrived at the area for the military drill. It has stronger surface strike capability and air defense capability.

Apart from the shipborne helicopter, the "Blue Force" is also equipped with air warning plane, which will provide information to support the drill.

The exercise, which began Friday and will last until the beginning of November, is expected to improve high sea combat capabilities and the application of information technology.