COSCO Denies U.S. Spy Allegations

On September 4, COSCO SHIPPING, the Chinese state-owned shipping giant, rejected U.S. claims that its vessels carried hidden equipment to intercept military communications near the coastlines of target nations, including the United States. Two senior Trump-administration officials, speaking anonymously, said COSCO has maintained a decades-long partnership with Beijing that enables the collection of communication signals from ships and aircraft operating across Europe, North America and Asia. The officials did not identify specific vessels or describe the alleged equipment.

COSCO Denies U.S. Allegations That Its Ships Used Concealed Equipment To Spy For Beijing COSCO Denies Its Ships Collected Intelligence for Beijing Global Times

The accusations arrive amid a history of U.S. scrutiny of COSCO. In the late 1990s Congress raised security concerns over COSCO’s proposed lease of the former Long Beach Naval Station, a proposal the Clinton administration cleared. After COSCO’s acquisition of the Hong Kong group OOIL, the U.S. required the sale of the Long Beach Container Terminal, a $1.78 billion transaction completed in 2019 under a national-security agreement. COSCO also faced U.S. sanctions in 2019 over Iranian oil trades, which briefly spiked very-large-crude-carrier rates before being partially lifted. In January 2025 the Pentagon added COSCO to a list of companies it considered linked to the Chinese military, a designation that imposes procurement restrictions but not formal sanctions. The U.S. Trade Representative has previously targeted Chinese shipping with port-fee measures, a plan that was suspended after a 2025 trade detente.

COSCO Denies U.S. Allegations That Its Ships Used Concealed Equipment To Spy For Beijing Global Times

COSCO’s statement asserted that all communication, navigation, safety and operational equipment on its ships is used solely for legitimate commercial purposes such as navigation safety, ship-to-shore communications and emergency response, and none is employed to intercept military signals. The two senior U.S. officials maintained that the alleged “sophisticated signals-intelligence collection” platforms are intended to monitor military communications technologies and encryption developments, though they offered no concrete evidence.

COSCO Denies Its Ships Collected Intelligence for Beijing

Shen Yi, director of the International Research Institute of Global Cyberspace Governance at Fudan University, called the allegations “groundless” and suggested they may be intended to give Washington leverage in future negotiations over port fees on Chinese shipping firms.

Global Times

• “Large numbers of cargo ships operated by US companies also call at Chinese ports every day. Before making baseless accusations against Chinese vessels, shouldn't the US first prove that its own ships are not engaged in such activities?” — Shen

Global Times

• “By fabricating an accusation without solid evidence, the US may be seeking a pretext to pressure a Chinese company into paying additional fees,” — Shen

Global Times