The U.S. Coast Guard announced that four Chinese naval ships were detected navigating near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands in separate incidents on Wednesday.
Three of the vessels were reportedly discovered 124 miles north of the Amchitka Pass by the Honolulu-based Cutter Kimball, and a fourth warship was spotted 84 miles north of the Amukta Pass by an aviation unit from Kodiak. Both locations are in the western part of the island chain.
Coast Guard Adm. Megan Dean confirmed that the flotilla remained in international waters while acknowledging that they were operating within the 200-mile U.S. exclusive economic zone.
Although U.S. officials did not disclose how long the squadron remained in the area, they did affirm that their voyage was monitored until they departed.
The deployment came a week after China’s navy held its annual Pacific exercises with Russia.
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