China says 'spy turtles' and 'spy fish' are monitoring its waters

China’s ministry of state security has claimed that foreign espionage and intelligence agencies are using new methods to monitor its waters, including deploying animals fitted with sensors. In a WeChat post the ministry warned an “invisible secret war” was quietly playing out as foreign actors collected sensitive data to produce underwater maps that it said pose a “serious threat to our national security”.

The ministry named large marine animals — “spy turtles” and “spy fish” — that had been found “attached to sensors” while swimming in Chinese waters. It said the animals were collecting marine environment data such as water temperature, salinity and ocean currents in real time and transmitting the information overseas by satellite, but did not provide specifics about where they were found or who had equipped them.

Officials also reported buoys deployed by an overseas marine research institute that were fitted with meteorological sensor packages capable of tracking the acoustic signatures of Chinese submarines in real time.

China

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