Latest news with #CanadianJointOperationsCommand
Newsweek
23-07-2025
- Business
- Newsweek
NATO Ally Shadows China Icebreaker
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The Canadian military confirmed to Newsweek that it is "actively monitoring" the Chinese icebreaker Xue Long 2, which was tracked entering Arctic waters from East Asia last week. "The top priority of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) is the defense of Canada and Canadians, and we will continue to conduct activities needed to detect, deter, and defend against potential threats in, over, and approaching Canada," the Canadian Joint Operations Command said. Newsweek reached out to China's Foreign Ministry and Canada's Coast Guard via email for comment. Why It Matters China asserts itself as a "near-Arctic state" and an important stakeholder in Arctic affairs. In recent years, it has gradually expanded its presence in the region, including deploying its icebreaking fleet and conducting scientific research that could have military applications. The Xue Long 2's voyage comes amid growing Arctic rivalry between the United States and China. U.S. President Donald Trump expressed interest in acquiring Greenland, a Danish island rich in mineral and energy resources, and one that counts China as a key economic partner. Canada, Washington's key NATO ally, conducted an "Arctic awareness and sovereignty mission" in July of last year, during which one of its warships shadowed the Arctic-bound Xue Long 2, China's first domestically built icebreaker capable of conducting research. China's icebreaker Xue Long 2 leaving the Xiuying Port in Haikou on June 8, 2025. China's icebreaker Xue Long 2 leaving the Xiuying Port in Haikou on June 8, 2025. VCG/VCG via AP What To Know Using data from the vessel-tracking website MarineTraffic, Steffan Watkins, a research consultant based in Canada, said the Canadian Coast Guard vessel CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier shadowed the Xue Long 2 at a distance as it sailed from Japan toward Alaska. A Newsweek map shows that the Xue Long 2 departed East China on July 6 and was operating in the Chukchi Sea, located south of the Arctic Ocean and north of the Bering Strait, on July 18, following a transit past the west and north coasts of Japan and Russia's Far East. As of Tuesday, the Xue Long 2 was not in Canadian territorial waters, which extend up to 13.8 miles from the coastline, the Canadian Joint Operations Command told Newsweek. According to the Chinese company COSCO Shipping Heavy Industry, the icebreaker completed a 10-day, high-intensity maintenance on June 29 and returned to its polar expedition base in Shanghai, as it prepared for an Arctic scientific expedition mission scheduled for this month. The Sir Wilfrid Laurier, a multi-purpose ship capable of icebreaking, was deployed to the North Pacific last month for a patrol aimed at deterring illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. According to the map, it departed Hakodate Port in northern Japan on July 8. The ship, one of seven Canadian icebreakers scheduled to deploy for the Coast Guard's Arctic summer operations between June and November, was tracked near Nome, Alaska, on July 19, as it shifted its mission to icebreaking and scientific support in the Arctic. While the voyages of the Chinese and Canadian vessels "unmistakably paralleled" each other during their transit to the Arctic, as described by Watkins, the Canadian Coast Guard denied that the Sir Wilfrid Laurier was shadowing the Xue Long 2, according to CBC News. Meanwhile, ADSBexchange, an online platform that collects real-time flight data, tracked a Canadian CP-140 patrol aircraft launching from Alaska and heading toward the Chinese vessel in the Arctic, Watkins revealed on Bluesky on Sunday. Watkins told Newsweek that only one patrol aircraft appears to have been deployed to Anchorage, flying nine-hour sorties every day or every other day. The Canadian Joint Operations Command confirmed to Newsweek that a CP-140 aircraft was based in Alaska. 🇨🇳 Chinese dual-use research vessel Xue Long 2 (MMSI:413381260) has returned to the Arctic, shadowed at a distance by CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier (MMSI:316052000) all the way from Japan. It appears #RCAF CP-140 Aurora 140108 #C2B1ED is monitoring Xue Long 2 right now. 👀 — Steffan Watkins 🇨🇦 (@ 2025-07-21T02:32:24.602Z Canada has been deploying military patrol aircraft to Alaska for at least the past two years to monitor Chinese research vessels in the Arctic; however, such missions have not been made public. "Canadians should be aware and appreciate what the air force does," Watkins said. What People Are Saying The Canadian Joint Operations Command said in a statement to Newsweek on Tuesday: "Competitors are exploring Arctic waters and the seafloor, probing our infrastructure, and collecting intelligence using dual-purpose research vessels and surveillance platforms. The [Canadian Armed Forces] will continue to actively monitor the Xue Long 2 so long as it continues to operate near Canadian territorial waters." Steffan Watkins, a research consultant based in Canada, told Newsweek on Tuesday: "I'm sure some of [Chinese research vessel] deployments to the Pacific are academic-research related, but like American and Russian research vessels, I presume they're conducting some of that 'research' for their military; whether that's deploying or retrieving sensors, mapping undersea cables, collecting intelligence, measuring the salinity of the water, or other tasks." What Happens Next According to Watkins, Canada is expected to receive the first of its 16 P-8A patrol aircraft, each equipped with a long-range radar and high-resolution imaging and detection system, in 2026 and achieve full operational capability by 2033 for monitoring vessels of interest.
Yahoo
22-07-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
A Chinese research vessel returns to Arctic waters — and Canada is watching
The Canadian military and possibly the coast guard are keeping tabs on a Chinese research vessel as it returns to Arctic waters off Alaska for the second year in a row. Data compiled by an independent researcher and ship tracker, Steffan Watkins, shows a Canadian air force CP-140 surveillance plane was flying in the vicinity of the Xue Long (Snow Dragon) 2 as it exited the Bering Strait on Sunday. The aircraft, according to Watkins's research, relocated to Anchorage, Alaska, from its base in Comox, B.C., on July 9. It has conducted four patrols since then, including the most recent one involving the vessel, which is China's first domestically built polar research ship. Despite publicly available flight tracking showing the CP-140's patrol route, the Department of National Defence would not confirm on Monday the presence of the aircraft. On Tuesday, the military released a statement. "We will continue to conduct activities needed to detect, deter and defend against potential threats in, over and approaching Canada," said Maj. Alexander Naraine, a spokesperson for the military's joint operations centre. "The vessel, Xue Long 2, is not currently in Canadian territorial waters. The Canadian Joint Operations Command is actively monitoring the vessel Xue Long 2 with a CP-140 Aurora aircraft, based out of Alaska." He said that monitoring will continue "so long as it continues to operate near Canadian territorial waters." Naraine said competitor nations are exploring Arctic waters and the sea floor, "probing our infrastructure, and collecting intelligence using dual-purpose research vessels and surveillance platforms." Coast guard says it's monitoring illegal fishing The air force appears to have picked up where the Canadian Coast Guard left off. The Chinese ice ship left Shanghai on July 6 and passed close to Japan a few days later, before heading north into Russian waters. "Shadowing the Xue Long 2 all of the way from Japan was CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier, which unmistakably paralleled their transit, staying in international waters," Watkins wrote in his latest post, which included ship-tracking data. The coast guard ship, the data shows, stuck with the Xue Long 2 until it crossed into the Bering Strait, between Alaska and Russia. Asked about the mission of the Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the coast guard at first provided a circumspect response and pointed CBC News to a June 9 media release which said the ship would be conducting high seas patrols in the North Pacific to counter "illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing." Then late Monday, the agency denied it was shadowing the Xue Long 2. The stated mission of the coast guard ship was to focus on "migratory routes for key species like Pacific salmon," it said. However, when ship-tracking data is overlaid with publicly available data on salmon migration routes, only one-third of the recent voyage involved known salmon paths. The ship's helicopter was also slated to conduct patrols with Canadian fishery officers in Japan to "monitor fishing vessels and support partner countries to ensure compliance with international law," according to the statement. Prime Minister Mark Carney pledged to expand the reach, security mandate and abilities of the Canadian Coast Guard as part of the Liberal government's plan to beef up the country's defences. Eventually, the federal government intends to integrate the civilian agency, currently under the Fisheries Department, into Canada's NATO defence capabilities to, as Carney put it last June, "better secure our sovereignty and expand maritime surveillance." Last summer, the Royal Canadian Navy dispatched a frigate to monitor the Xue Long 2 during its voyage to the Arctic — a mission the Department of National Defence took more than a week to acknowledge. WATCH | Canada plots military expansion in the North: University of British Columbia Arctic expert Michael Byers said he believes Canadian officials need to be more forthcoming about the security threat they believe the vessel poses. "One has to actually do a proper threat assessment," Byers told CBC News in an interview. Military experts have described the Chinese ice research ship as a dual-use vessel — suggesting it has a military or defence capacity. Byers acknowledged the ship could be collecting data that's militarily relevant, but he questions if the term "dual-use" is relying on assumptions rather than evidence. Relations with China continue to be strained and Byers said statements that are "potentially escalatory" about what the Chinese are — and are not — doing in the Arctic need to be examined carefully. Having said that, he fully supports the military and coast guard's monitoring activities. "We're very concerned as a country about China as a rising military power, and obviously China is very strongly supporting Russia with regards to its invasion of Ukraine," Byers said. "So yes, if a Chinese government vessel is sailing anywhere close to the United States or to Canada, then yeah, we would be monitoring it."
