China’s Ministry of State Security announced on Tuesday that it has discovered surveillance devices on the ocean’s surface as well as in its depths, including underwater “lighthouses” capable of guiding foreign submarines through the water.
In an article on its official WeChat account, China’s most popular social media platform, the ministry claimed to have discovered devices concealed on the ocean floor and that they were sending back information that might “pre-set the field for battle.”
Recent sea and air confrontations in the South China Sea between China and the Philippines over competing territorial claims in the highly strategic waterway have raised the possibility of an escalation involving the United States, which is treaty-bound to defend the Philippines if attacked.
China has also lately performed war simulations around Taiwan, simulating attacks and the deployment of ships and aircraft, prompting condemnation from both the island’s democratically elected government and the US.
China claims sovereignty over almost the entire South China Sea, including territory claimed by Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
Beijing has also stated that it will never abandon the use of force against Taiwan, which rejects China’s sovereignty claims and asserts that only the island’s people can decide their future.
“The ministry will firmly defend China’s sovereignty, security, and development interests and contribute to the construction of a strong maritime nation in the face of a serious and complex covert struggle for deep-sea security and the real threat of foreign espionage and intelligence agencies,” the ministry stated.
