US officials allege COSCO ships use concealed equipment for intelligence collection
Two senior Trump administration officials have alleged that China's state-owned shipping giant COSCO uses concealed equipment aboard its vessels to collect military communications near the coastlines of target nations, including the United States. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the S. assessment of the Chinese program, said COSCO has maintained a decades-long intelligence-collection partnership with Beijing.
The arrangement, as described by the officials, allows China to collect communication signals from vessels and aircraft operating across Europe, North America, and Asia. One official said the advanced equipment aboard the ships is intended to enable China to gather information about "military communications technologies and encryption developments." The effort also allows Beijing to monitor key shipping lanes and maritime routes crucial for global trade and military navigation, the official added.
The officials did not detail the type of equipment allegedly in use but described the systems as "sophisticated signals intelligence collection" platforms rather than routine communications hardware. They said Beijing uses the information gleaned to bolster its position in territorial disputes and provide maritime reconnaissance and early-warning indications of foreign military targets.
The allegations were reported by Reuters, according to the Hindustan Times and The Straits Times, which cited the news agency's exclusive report.
China's denial
China's embassy in Washington rejected the S. claims. In a statement, the embassy said the Chinese government would never ask any company or individual to "collect or provide data, information or intelligence located abroad against local laws."
"We oppose vilifying China by peddling the so-called 'intelligence collection' narrative, which is totally baseless," embassy spokesperson Liu Chang told Reuters.
COSCO did not respond to a request for comment.
Broader context
The allegations come amid longstanding concerns in Washington over links between Chinese commercial shipping companies and the country's military and intelligence apparatus. A report published by the S. Naval War College in April 2025 said it was likely that China's People's Liberation Army was harnessing the country's fishing and commercial shipping fleets for intelligence and surveillance gathering.
The Pentagon added COSCO to its list of companies linked to China's military in January 2025. Chinese law requires the country's firms to support government intelligence work.
COSCO remains one of the world's leading shipping companies calling at S. ports and has several terminal service joint ventures for container ships at S. ports.
The Trump administration had planned last year to impose billions of dollars in port fees on Chinese shipping companies, including COSCO. The plan was paused after President Donald Trump reached an agreement with Chinese President Xi Jinping in October for a year-long trade war détente. The détente agreement expires in November, and a possible extension is expected to be part of the September talks between the two leaders.
S. President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping plan to meet in Washington for a summit later this month.
Expert perspective
Isaac Kardon, an expert in Chinese maritime strategy at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, said the S. government would likely have difficulty decisively addressing the security concerns given the degree to which COSCO is interwoven into S. trade. "Taking COSCO out of our supply chains and transporter networks could be life-threatening surgery to S. trade networks," Kardon said.