China’s spy ship.
Male: After staying in Maldives for several days, China’s spy ship has now left for return. This Chinese ship, which went to Maldives in the name of research, is infamous for espionage. That’s why India became worried as soon as it reached Maldives. It reached a port in Maldives last week. China’s research ship equipped with high technology weighing 4500 tonnes has now departed from the coast of Maldives. Local media gave this news on Wednesday. The Chinese ship, officially named Jiang Yang Hong Three, had anchored at the port “for replacement of personnel and supplies.”
According to international media, “Jiang Yang Hong Three has returned to the border of the Maldives Exclusive Economic Zone after being anchored in Male since February 22. But even after leaving Male port, the last signal of this ship was seen on tracking sites two days ago near Hulhumale. Hulhumale is less than 10 kilometers north-east of Male. The ship stopped at Thilafushi on 23 February, which is about seven and a half kilometers west of Male. “There is a possibility that the ship may have switched off the tracking system, as it did on February 22 while leaving Male in the Java Sea off the coast of Indonesia,” the news portal said.
This ship joined the Chinese fleet in 2016
This 100 meter long ship was included in the fleet of China’s Government Maritime Administration in 2016. This is the only ship weighing 4500 tons in China. Since 2019, China has been using this ship for surveys in the ‘off shore sea’ and ‘deep sea’ in its Pilot Ocean Laboratory. On January 5, Sri Lanka had refused to allow the entry of Jiang Yang Hong Three and said that it has announced a ban on the entry of foreign research vessels in its maritime limits for one year. India had expressed concern over the anchoring of Chinese research vessels in its neighbourhood. Coincidentally, this Chinese ship was near the site of the India-Maldives-Sri Lanka trilateral ‘Dosti-16’ exercise. This exercise took place between 22 February and 25 February.
Maldives had made this claim
The new pro-China government of Maldives had said on January 23 that it had allowed the research ship, equipped with research and survey facilities, to dock at Male port because its stop was for personnel shift change and it was ‘within Maldivian territorial waters. No research will be done during the stay.” An American think tank has alleged that a huge fleet of Chinese ‘scientific research’ ships is collecting data from the seas, including the Indian Ocean region, for military purposes, especially submarine operations. China has denied this allegation. It says its ships operate under the United Nations Law of the Sea Convention. (Language)
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