Chinese Shipper COSCO Collects Intel for Beijing With Concealed Equipment

WASHINGTON, Sept 1 (Reuters) – China’s state-owned shipping giant COSCO uses concealed equipment on board its ships to spy on military communications near the coastlines of target nations including the U.S., two senior Trump administration officials said.

The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the U.S. assessment of the Chinese program, said COSCO has a decades-long intelligence-collection partnership with Beijing. The arrangement allows China to collect communication signals from vessels and aircraft operating across Europe, North America and Asia, they said.

The advanced equipment aboard the ships is intended to enable China