National Defense

Chinese Ships Keep Appearing In America’s Arctic Backyard

China News Service / Wikimedia Commons

The United States is closely monitoring Chinese research vessels operating near Alaska over concerns that Beijing’s nominally scientific missions could help it exploit American seabed resources or gain a military advantage.

Four Chinese research vessels have operated offshore in the U.S. Arctic so far this year, compared with five during all of 2025, Reuters reported, citing Rear Adm. Bob Little, commander of the U.S. Coast Guard’s Arctic District. The vessels traveled through maritime areas off Alaska, including around the Aleutian Islands and through the Bering Strait, with some activity reaching as far north as the North Pole, the outlet reported, citing Little.

“It is in the U.S.’ interest to act strategically about how it responds to Chinese activity in the region,” David Wade, a member of the American Security Project’s board of directors and former chief of staff to Secretary of State John Kerry, told the Daily Caller News Foundation. “Given that we do not yet understand what China is doing, responding aggressively to Chinese action that is provocative but otherwise harmless could result in unintended consequences. Currently, the U.S. does not have much in terms of Arctic assets. China doesn’t either, though it’s expressing a greater interest in operating in the region.”

The Chinese vessels remained in international waters but did not provide the United States advance notice of their presence through diplomatic channels. U.S. authorities have questioned the vessels about their missions, receiving responses that they were conducting scientific research or lawful operations in international waters, the outlet reported, citing Little.

“It is essentially a good example of the type of activities that China is doing to increase its level of knowledge and awareness in a complex environment, namely the Arctic, to gain a sort of intelligence and ISR and general edge, in terms of operating, in terms of sustaining presence in that region, and the best way to do it … is really to send people up there,” Mathieu Boulègue, a senior fellow with the Center for European Policy Analysis (CEPA), told the DCNF.

Little said American officials are particularly interested in Chinese activity inside the U.S. exclusive economic zone or over the country’s extended continental shelf, according to Reuters. The Coast Guard is examining whether Chinese research could support seabed mineral exploitation or activities that could give Beijing a military advantage or threaten U.S. security, the outlet reported, citing Little.

“China is a sort of newcomer in terms of the Arctic … and since they’re a relative newcomer in terms of operating, in terms of learning from the environments, they have a steep learning curve, and part of that learning curve is really to send expeditions to get sort of up to speed with what the environment is,” Boulègue told the DCNF.

The Arctic seabed could also hold strategically important mineral deposits, although large portions of the region remain poorly explored.

Ferromanganese crusts recovered from the Chukchi Borderland north of Alaska contained metals including lithium and other critical elements, while similar crusts can become enriched in cobalt, tellurium and rare earth metals, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).

Those materials can have substantial military and economic value. Cobalt is widely used in rechargeable batteries and high-temperature alloys for turbine engines, while rare earth elements are used in technologies including missile guidance systems, satellites, radar and sonar systems.

China and Russia have already demonstrated their ability to operate long-range combat aircraft together near Alaska.

Two Chinese H-6 bombers and two Russian Tu-95 bombers, accompanied by Russian Su-30 and Su-35 fighters, flew into the Alaskan Air Defense Identification Zone on July 24, 2024. This was the first time Chinese military aircraft entered the Alaskan ADIZ, according to NORAD.

“The more important development is the normalization of a sustained Chinese presence in a region where Beijing had very little operational experience until relatively recently,” Matthew Johnson, a senior fellow at the Jamestown Foundation specializing in Chinese elite politics, strategic thinking and technology policy, told the DCNF. “Chinese vessels are now repeatedly operating around the Aleutians, Bering Sea and Strait, and farther into the Arctic. That builds familiarity with one of the approaches to the U.S. homeland while giving China practical experience operating in polar conditions.”

While the U.S. remains embroiled in the Iran War, this may be an effort to spread the U.S. Navy to its breaking point, one expert told the DCNF.

“The Iran war has been demonstrating the limited capacity of the U.S. Navy, and the Coast Guard has been heavily tasked as well, so the U.S. should pick and choose what’s worth responding to, so as to prevent spreading precious resources too thin,” Wade told the DCNF. “With limited investment in infrastructure, resources, and military assets in Alaska, the U.S. should be careful about building things or engaging in activities that might otherwise become tempting targets for an adversary that enjoys being provocative. This activity might simply be intended to keep the U.S. on its toes and divide military resources. We don’t know.”

The Coast Guard was already responding directly to Chinese research ships in the region earlier this summer.

The service monitored the Chinese research ships Xue Long and Xue Long 2 as they traveled toward the Arctic in July, according to the U.S. Coast Guard. Xue Long traveled north through the U.S. exclusive economic zone and over the American extended continental shelf in the Bering Sea, prompting the Coast Guard Cutter Munro to monitor the vessel under Operation Frontier Sentinel.

Foreign vessels generally retain navigation freedoms inside the U.S. exclusive economic zone, but marine scientific research is subject to a different legal regime. Coastal-state consent is required for marine scientific research conducted in an EEZ or on a continental shelf under Article 246 of the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The Pentagon has separately warned that China’s Arctic research program has potential military applications.

Beijing operates three icebreakers capable of supporting what the Pentagon characterized as China’s “dual civil-military research efforts” in the region, according to the Department of War’s 2024 Arctic Strategy.

China’s broader Military-Civil Fusion strategy is designed to erase barriers between civilian research, industry and the military so technologies and expertise developed by ostensibly civilian companies, universities and research programs can also support People’s Liberation Army modernization, according to the Department of War.

Chinese Arctic expeditions have tested unmanned underwater vehicles and polar-capable aircraft, while Chinese naval vessels have demonstrated their ability to operate in the region alongside Russia, according to the strategy.

China is not an Arctic nation but has sought greater access to the region’s resources and a larger role in Arctic governance, according to the Pentagon strategy. Beijing describes itself as a “near-Arctic” state and has promoted a “Polar Silk Road” involving infrastructure and natural resource projects in the region, according to the strategy.

The Pentagon’s Arctic strategy calls for a “monitor and respond” approach built around surveillance, intelligence capabilities, cooperation with American allies and a military presence capable of deterring threats, the Department of War said when releasing the strategy.

China has also increasingly worked with Russia in the Arctic, including through military exercises and economic activity, according to the Department of War. Pentagon officials have previously warned that growing cooperation between Moscow and Beijing could alter the region’s security environment as both countries expand their operations in the far north.

“The best way to deter is being present,” Boulègue told the DCNF. “It’s really deterrence by presence, and the best way to be present is to increase the operational tempo of the Coast Guard, which is currently being done with a new class of security cutters, with more appropriation coming from the U.S. government and more interest in that region … it’s more about making sure we have that sort of operational bubble ready to, when and if the time comes, there is escalation to be ready.”