China’s surveillance vessels have mapped Taiwan’s coast as Beijing has increased the use of research ships for war preparation, according to a new report.
“The Zhu Hai Yun, which bristles with advanced monitoring and surveillance equipment, charted a course that appears intended to challenge Taiwan and probe the environment around the island,” the report by the Centre for International and Strategic Studies (CSIS) said on February 26.
Described as “drone carrier,” the Zhu Hai Yun was built by China State Shipbuilding Corporation and owned by Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), also known as the “Southern Ocean Laboratory” of Sun Yat-sen University, according to a May 2022 report in Marine Executive, a specialist publication on maritime affairs.
The vessel, which can controlled remotely and navigate autonomously in open water, was commissioned into service on January 12, 2023, Chinese state media outlet Global Times reported.
Beijing has increased the use of research vessels for missions in the Indian Ocean, which China says are for research purposes alone. In October 2023, controversy erupted after the Chinese research vessel Shi Yan 6 docked at the port in Sri Lanka’s Colombo, which was protested by India. Experts have argued that vessels like Shi Yan 6 have links to the People’s Liberation Army, Newsweek has previously reported.
Ishara S. KODIKARA/AFP via Getty
“China’s scientific research activities in relevant waters are for peaceful purposes and aimed at contributing to humanity’s scientific understanding of the ocean. The activities are in strict compliance with the terms of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea,” Wang Wenbin, a spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, said on February 6 during the regular press briefing.
The CSIS report, however, underscores the ship’s activities as part of what experts describe as an “all-domain pressure campaign” by the People’s Republic of China against Taiwan.
“This represents one more tool the People’s Republic of China is using in what I call the all-domain pressure campaign against Taiwan,” Christopher Sharman, director of the China Maritime Studies Institute at the US Naval War College, told the Financial Times.
The Zhu Hai Yun research vessel has links to the PLA, the CSIS report said.
“Records indicate that the Zhu Hai Yun was built by the 704th Research Institute, a subsidiary of the massive state-owned defense contractor China State Shipbuilding Corporation. In 2020, the U.S. Commerce Department placed the 704th Research Institute on its Entity List for illegally acquiring U.S.-origin equipment to support the PLA,” it said.
The Zhu Hai Yun, equipped with advanced monitoring and surveillance equipment, undertook a path closely along Taiwan’s coast, engaging in activities that suggest a deliberate attempt to challenge the island and probe its surrounding environment, the report said.
Notably, near Taiwan’s northern coast, the vessel significantly reduced its speed, an action that CSIS interpreted as conducting a research operation. Furthermore, the ship’s course took it into the contiguous zone of Taiwan, coming within 24 nautical miles of the shore, and at points appeared to cross into this sensitive area, the report added.
“Data accessed from the Windward intelligence platform reveals that, besides the Zhu Hai Yun, only two other Chinese research vessels since 2015 have operated along Taiwan’s east coast in a manner that was not suggestive of either direct transit or surveying the seabed for deposits of natural resources. Just one of those vessels, operating in 2021, circled Taiwan in a route similar to the Zhu Hai Yun‘s but did not venture nearly as close to the island,” it said.
Newsweek contacted the 704th Research Institute and Sun Yat-sen University via email.
“I can see the PRC using this to penetrate the contiguous zone with a drone swarm to test Taiwan’s response and that would greatly increase the risk of an incident,” Sharman told the Financial Times.
Despite Chinese sources claiming that the Zhu Hai Yun‘s purpose is solely for civilian research, evidence suggests a blurred line between the vessel and the People’s Liberation Army (PLA).
“In Dalian, the ship docked at a pier operated by the Dalian Institute of Measurement and Control Technology. One of the institute’s primary roles is studying ship vibration and acoustics for the Chinese navy,” the CSIS report said.
The Zhu Hai Yun is not just a simple research vessel; it carries unmanned surface vehicles (USVs) and undersea gliders equipped with technology such as side-scan sonar, identified by Chinese naval researchers as beneficial for detecting undersea mines and submarines, the report said. Aerial drones aboard the ship further extend its surveillance capabilities.
Furthermore, the Zhu Hai Yun‘s primary operator, the Southern Marine Science and Engineering Guangdong Laboratory (Zhuhai), underscores the vessel’s links to China’s military apparatus, being owned by the Zhuhai municipal government and managed by Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU), an institution with established connections to the PLA, the report said.
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