NEWS AND ANALYSIS:
China’s military dispatched a spy ship to collect warfighting secrets during the U.S. Navy’s major international exercises known as Rim of the Pacific (RIMPAC) that ended earlier this month, according to defense sources.
No details of the activities by the People’s Liberation Army navy auxiliary general intelligence ship, known as an AGI, were disclosed. The naval spying was detected near Hawaii during the military maneuvers.
One source said the Chinese ship did not disrupt the exercises involving 25,000 troops, 38 warships and more than 170 aircraft that ended Aug. 4.
However, with rising tensions and growing fears of a conflict with China over Taiwan, government and military officials were said to be concerned by the spy ship’s presence during the war games.