
US Ally Intercepts Chinese Intelligence Ship in Coastal Waters
Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content.
A Chinese intelligence-gathering ship sailed between two southwestern Japanese islands Tuesday morning, prompting the United States ally to dispatch a warship to keep tabs on the People's Liberation Army (PLA) vessel, Tokyo said.
Newsweek reached out to the Chinese Foreign Ministry via email for comment outside of office hours.
Why It Matters
Japan is part of the so-called First Island Chain, a string of island archipelagos that also includes the Philippines and portions of Indonesia that the U.S. considers key to containing Chinese forces in the event of a conflict.
While the Chinese vessel was operating in international waters, its proximity to the strategic Okinawa Prefecture, home to dozens of U.S. military facilities, comes amid heightened tensions between Tokyo and Beijing over a range of issues, including the territorial dispute over the nearby Senkaku Islands, China's military buildup and threats toward neighboring Taiwan.
What To Know
The Dongdiao-class electronic surveillance ship, the Tianlangxin, was confirmed to be sailing westward approximately 80 miles off Okinawa Prefecture's Miyako Island at around 6 a.m., the Japanese defense ministry's joint staff said.
The ship then reportedly followed a northwesterly course that took it through the Miyako Strait—a strategic chokepoint separating Miyako and Okinawa's main island—and toward the East China Sea.
In response, the country's de facto navy, the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force, sent the Fubuki-class destroyer the Amagiri to gather information on the Chinese vessel.
The Philippine Coast Guard tracking Type 815G-class electronic surveillance ship the Tianwangxing (793) in waters off Cabra Island on July 12, 2025.
The Philippine Coast Guard tracking Type 815G-class electronic surveillance ship the Tianwangxing (793) in waters off Cabra Island on July 12, 2025.
Philippine Coast Guard
The Tianlangxin was last reported in waters near Japan on June 10. That day, it transited from the East China Sea to the Philippine Sea via the Osumi Strait, which is situated off Japan's southernmost main island, Kyushu.
In separate press releases on Tuesday, the Joint Staff reported that an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was twice detected off Taiwan's east coast.
The previous day, a PLA Air Force Y-9 aircraft was observed flying through the Miyako Strait from the East China Sea, while a presumed Chinese drone was tracked flying south to north off Taiwan's east coast.
In each of the above cases, Japan scrambled fighters to monitor the foreign aircraft.
Japan is increasingly unsettled by China's push to supplant the U.S. as the preeminent military power in the region.
Japan's annual defense white paper, submitted to the Cabinet last week, cited growing concerns over the increasing frequency of PLA Navy deployments to the First Island Chain and beyond.
Chinese warships passing between islands in Okinawa Prefecture, in particular, tripled in number between 2021 and 2024, according to the white paper.
Beijing criticized the document, saying it "peddles the false 'China threat'" and that China's national defense policy is "defensive in nature."
What Happens Next
Japan is expected to continue reporting on Chinese military activities near its territory.
Fears over the shifting balance of power in the region have driven Tokyo to bolster ties with the U.S. and other partners in the region and move forward with increasing defense spending to 2 percent of Japan's GDP by 2027.
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Restoring the strategic narrative: information and influence as instruments of peace President Trump and President Lee jointly recognized that information is a critical domain of strategic competition and human freedom. They expressed deep concern over recent decisions that dismantled decades of information and broadcasting efforts to the Korean people in the North, including: • The 2025 termination of the Voice of America and Radio Free Asia Korea Services by the U.S. government • The 2025 suspension of ROK National Intelligence Service-led radio broadcasts into North Korea The leaders agreed that these decisions must be reversed. To this end, they pledged to: • Reinstate the VOA and RFA Korean Services immediately, with renewed mandates to support truth, human rights, and democratic values • Resume Republic of Korea radio broadcasts into North Korea, led by a newly chartered interagency unit under the Ministry of Unification. • Establish a Joint Information and Influence Coordination Group to synchronize alliance messaging, support defectors and civil society, and modernize information delivery across digital, cyber and unconventional channels. The presidents affirmed that the human rights of the Korean people in the North are not only a moral priority but a strategic center of gravity in the pursuit of permanent peace. They committed to a human rights upfront approach that informs all alliance strategy toward North Korea. Shared vision for a free and unified Korea The two leaders reaffirmed that the unnatural division of the Korean Peninsula must be resolved. They declared that a free and unified Korea, governed under democratic principles, is the only path to permanent peace, full denuclearization and justice. President Trump expressed support for the Republic of Korea's 8.15 Unification Doctrine, which offers a Korean-led framework for unification grounded in the values of freedom, peace, and prosperity. The leaders pledged to: • Promote the right of the Korean people to self-determination as enshrined in the U.N. Universal Declaration of Human Rights • Empower the Korean people in the North with access to truth and knowledge • Align alliance policy toward long-term unification as a strategic end state Reaffirming democratic norms and rule of law President Trump raised concerns about perceptions surrounding recent legal proceedings involving former President Yoon Suk-yeol. President Lee emphasized the independence of South Korea's judiciary and the Republic's enduring commitment to the rule of law and democratic process. The leaders agreed that democracy must never be sacrificed to expediency and that freedom and fairness are the foundation of alliance legitimacy. Modernizing the alliance for strategic agility The leaders announced major steps to optimize the alliance's defense posture in support of regional and global stability: • Designating South Korea a strategic agility platform for the defense of Korea and the projection of ROK and U.S. forces for contingencies in the Asia-Indo-Pacific region • Establishing a Combined ROK-U.S. Multi-Domain Task Force operating across land, sea, air, cyber, space and the electromagnetic spectrum. • Resumption of rotational U.S. infantry combat patrols on the DMZ, under tactical control of ROK frontline units. • Increased combined training, missile defense integration and cyber defense coordination. • Dual-apportionment of U.S. forward forces in Korea to support both Korean Peninsula and Indo-Pacific contingencies, including in the Taiwan Strait. • Korea's geostrategic location will serve as a strategic agility platform to enable rapid response, deterrence and alliance resilience across the theater. Economic and technological partnership for freedom and security The leaders reaffirmed their countries' deep economic and innovation partnership: • South Korea remains one of the largest foreign direct investors in the United States, supporting tens of thousands of U.S. jobs in advanced manufacturing, semiconductors, batteries and clean energy. • The two countries committed to strengthen supply chain security for critical technologies and rare earth minerals. • Expanded cooperation artificial intelligence, quantum computing and cybersecurity will form a critical axis of alliance modernization. Conclusion: reclaiming the front lines of freedom President Lee and President Trump concluded that the ROK-U.S. alliance is not a legacy of the past, but rather a living, evolving instrument of democratic strategy. In an age of authoritarian revisionism and disinformation, the alliance must stand for more than deterrence. It must stand for truth, for liberty and for the unalienable rights of all people. Together, they pledged: "To speak clearly, act decisively and stand boldly with the Korean people in their journey to freedom and unification." The alliance remains ironclad in commitment, modern in strategy, and unbreakable in purpose. America First. Korea Unified. Truth Forward. Again, please note this is a work of fiction. David Maxwell is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces colonel who has spent more than 30 years in the Asia Pacific region. He specializes in Northeast Asian security affairs and irregular, unconventional and political warfare. He is vice president of the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy and a senior fellow at the Global Peace Foundation. After he retired, he became associate director of the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University. He is on the board of directors of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea and the OSS Society and is the editor at large for the Small Wars Journal.