US Officials: COSCO Ships Intercept Military Communications Off US Coasts

US officials claim Chinese shipping giant COSCO uses hidden gear to intercept military signals near American shores.

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from the fact record

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As of 2026-09-01 17:13 UTC. Market figures are as the cited sources reported them at that time and may have moved since. This is news, not investment advice.

Two senior officials in the Trump administration stated that Chinese state-owned shipping giant COSCO uses hidden onboard equipment to intercept military communications off the coastlines of targeted nations, including the United States. ^[1] In January 2025, the Pentagon added COSCO to its list of companies linked to China's military, imposing U.S. government procurement bans and reputational damage. ^[2] The arrangement reportedly enables China to gather signal communications from commercial and military ships and aircraft across North America, Europe, and Asia. ^[3] The Chinese embassy in Washington rejected the allegations, with spokesperson Liu Chang stating that the so-called intelligence collection narrative is totally baseless and that the Chinese government would never instruct any enterprise to collect data abroad against local laws. ^[4] One of the officials said on 2026-09-01 that the advanced equipment aboard the ships is intended to enable China to gather information about military communications technologies and encryption developments. ^[5] The officials said on 2026-09-01 that COSCO has a decades-long intelligence-collection partnership with Beijing that allows China to collect communication signals from vessels and aircraft operating across Europe, North America, and Asia. ^[6]

What this stands on

In January 2025, the Pentagon added COSCO to its list of companies linked to China's military, imposing U.S. government procurement bans and reputational damage. · The Independent

The arrangement reportedly enables China to gather signal communications from commercial and military ships and aircraft across North America, Europe, and Asia. · The Independent

The Chinese embassy in Washington rejected the allegations, with spokesperson Liu Chang stating that the so-called intelligence collection narrative is totally baseless and that the Chinese government would never instruct any enterprise to collect data abroad against local laws. · The Independent

One of the officials said on 2026-09-01 that the advanced equipment aboard the ships is intended to enable China to gather information about military communications technologies and encryption developments. · gCaptain

The officials said on 2026-09-01 that COSCO has a decades-long intelligence-collection partnership with Beijing that allows China to collect communication signals from vessels and aircraft operating across Europe, North America, and Asia. · gCaptain

We could not place any of them by their address. None is an official body: that part stands on reporting, not on the underlying document or transcript.

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