Coast Guard ‘naming and shaming’ amid spike in Chinese activity near Alaska

WASHINGTON — The US Coast Guard in July made a rare announcement: Off the coast of Alaska, within a maritime zone known as the extended continental shelf, the service detected a Chinese research vessel. 

Then came a similar announcement in August. This time, five Chinese research ships were spotted operating in American Arctic waters. The Coast Guard, in conjunction with US Northern Command, the Pentagon’s combatant command tasked with defending the homeland, deployed units to observe the Chinese flotilla.

Come September, yet again, two Chinese-flagged research ships were spotted northwest of Alaska. And once more, the Coast Guard announced the deployment of ships and aircraft to monitor their activity.

Multiple officials, including the head of US Northern Command, told Breaking Defense China’s activities in and around American waters have increased this past year, the latest development in a broader pattern that started in 2021. But the subsequent public responses and objections by the Coast Guard is new, a trend that analysts said is designed to deter Chinese activity that close to the US.

“Not only is it testing the resolve of the US in this space, but it’s also trying to normalize presence,” Daniel White, a former DHS official, told Breaking Defense. “I think that is really what is important for [North American Aerospace Defense Command] and NORTHCOM and the Coast Guard, as far as naming and shaming.”

Making the issue more complicated is China’s selective use of the American extended continental shelf. Unlike American territorial waters just off the coast, an adversary’s presence on water above the extended shelf may be provocative, but not illegal, according to former Homeland Security and Coast Guard officials. And, crucially, China has suggested it doesn’t recognize American claims to the region.

In general, every country has exclusive rights to the resources found within 200 nautical miles of its coastlines. However, some countries undertake a multi-year process to extend the geographical boundaries under which they claim rights to certain resources. 

This claim is known as an extended continental shelf, and the United States made one in 2023 under rules outlined by the United Nations’ Convention on the Laws of the Sea. (The United States is not an official signatory to UNCLOS, but federal authorities generally adhere to its constructs for governing maritime conduct.)

Through the Global Times, a state-controlled media outlet, Chinese officials previously responded to the US Coast Guard’s announcements, saying they view the United States’ territorial claim as “unilateral.” Citing a “Chinese expert” the publication said that the “hyping up of ‘China threat’ rhetoric is only to justify the US’ evil deeds in the Arctic, revealing itself as a rule-breaker and global troublemaker.”

Gen. Gregory M. Guillot, commander of U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command, testifies before the House Armed Services Committee in Washington, D.C. March 21, 2024. (DoD photo by EJ Hersom)Influence And Access

As the head of NORTHCOM and NORAD, Gen. Gregory Guillot’s job includes overseeing forces that are routinely tasked with detecting, tracking and intercepting any adversarial ship or plane approaching the homeland. In a statement to Breaking Defense, Guillot said Chinese military activity near Alaska has “increased significantly” over the past several years.

“The increase in activity stems from China’s construction of new polar research ships and Beijing’s aim to expand its influence and access in the Arctic,” he said.

In addition to the incidents with the research vessels the Coast Guard responded to this year, he noted that China’s navy sent a surface action group to patrol the Bering Sea each year from 2021 to 2024, with two of those patrols conducted alongside the Russian navy. 

He also said China “conducted its first ever air patrol inside” the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), when two H-6 medium bombers and two Russian Tu-95 heavy bombers overflew the Bering Sea together in July 2024.

The ADIZ is not formally American airspace but refers to certain airspace surrounding the United States and Canada, which is monitored by civilian and military authorities from both countries. When foreign aircraft enter that airspace unannounced, it can trigger fighter jets being scrambled to intercept them, much like what happened in late September when four Russian military aircraft were detected.

Meanwhile, the Coast Guard said it, too, is responding to a “significant increase” in Chinese activity in Arctic waters in the area around Alaska.

A spokeswoman said the service’s response is part of Operation Frontier Sentinel and it aims to “counter malign activities, defend sovereign interests, and promote maritime conduct consistent with international law and norms.

“The press releases are a proactive measure to inform the American public regarding the increase in activity in the Arctic and the Coast Guard efforts to safeguard our border security and territorial integrity,” she added when asked about the numerous announcements.

While Guillot chalked up China’s operations to a desire to expand its “influence and access” in the Arctic, the Coast Guard deferred a question about China’s impetus to the State Department. A State Department spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Ice floes surround the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy in the Arctic Ocean on July 29, 2017. The cutter is the largest icebreaker in the Coast Guard and serves as a platform for scientific reseach. (Photo by Bonnie Jo Mount/The Washington Post via Getty Images)Who And How?

Who responds to a perceived incursion matters.

The Chinese ships spotted near Alaska over the last few months were research vessels, meaning they are presumed to be unarmed and manned by civilians, so the Coast Guard responded. 

Former officials told Breaking Defense that since the Coast Guard is a law enforcement agency, it is seen as less threatening than a Navy warship or fighter jets. The difference matters because sending an armed warship to confront unarmed researchers could give China an opportunity to accuse the US of escalating or aggravating a situation.

White, the former DHS official, said it is also important that the Pentagon’s responses on social media to these interactions has been to amplify the Coast Guard’s message, rather than issuing its own statements. While NORAD routinely announces its efforts to intercept aircraft, it did not proactively issue public statements about the Chinese research vessels venturing near Alaska this year. While NORAD routinely announces its efforts to intercept aircraft, it did not proactively issue public statements about the Chinese research vessels venturing near Alaska this year.

“It’s different when it comes from [a four-star] combatant commander,” he added.

Peter Brown, a retired Coast Guard rear admiral and senior fellow at the America First Policy Institute, told Breaking Defense a country’s rights to resources in an extended continental shelf are not all inclusive, and that foreign ships are allowed to transit and fish in those waters.

“It appears that these Chinese research vessels are researching the water column of those areas because that is not an area of exclusive US jurisdiction,” he said. They are claiming “not to be interfering with the sea floor rights that the US has in that area,” a claim Brown said he personally doesn’t believe is true.

Their activity is “very likely non-compliant with the rights that they have in that space,” Brown added. “It’s like you invite the cable guy in to fix your cable, but if he’s taking pictures of your jewelry, that’s not what he’s supposed to be there for.”

Whatever the vessels’ true purpose, White said China’s actions near Alaska amount to the same type of gray zone tactics that Pentagon officials say the country frequently employs elsewhere in the world, providing an opportunity for the Chinese to test the waters — figuratively and literally.

The Chinese are sending “research ships to prove a point. … This isn’t to go all the way up the escalation ladder. I’m prodding, I’m probing, I’m testing, and let’s see what happens,” said White. “That’s why the Coast Guard is so loud” in announcing its responses.

Michael Marrow contributed to this report.