The Canadian army and possibly coastal guard seem to keep tabs of a Chinese research vessel when it returns to Arctic Waters next to Alaska in the second year in a row.
The data collected by an independent researcher and the track of the ship, Steffan Watkins, show the Canadian Air Force Air Force CP -140 monitoring of the flying Xue Long (Snow Dragon) 2 when it left Bering on Sunday.
According to a study by Watkins, an airplane that moved to Anchorage, Alaska, its base in Comox, BC, July 9. It has since completed four patrols, including the latest ship, China’s first home country -built polar research vessel.
Despite the publicly available flight monitoring indicating the CP-140 Scout Route, the National Defense Institute will not confirm the presence of an airplane on Monday and said that it was unable to answer immediately related issues related to deployment.
The Air Force seems to be leaving where the Canadian Coast Guard went.
Coast Guard says it is observing illegal fishing
The Chinese ice ship left Shanghaa on July 6 and went near Japan a few days later before he went north of Russia.
“Shadowing Xue Long 2 from Japan was CCGS Sir Wilfrid Laurier, who was mistakenly in parallel to their transit, staying in international waters,” Watkins wrote in his latest message containing the ship’s tracking information.
Coast Guard, the information shows, stuck with Xue Long 2 until it moved to Bering Salmi between Alaska and Russia.
When asked about the position of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the Coast Guard initially gave a careful answer and showed CBC news to a bulletin on June 9, which would lead to “illegal, unreported and unregulated (iuu) fishing” in the North Pacific Ocean patrols. “
Then on Monday, the agency denied that it overshadowed Xue Long 2.
The reported task of the coastal guard ship was to focus on “the migration routes of key species, such as the Pacific salmon,” it said.
When ship tracking information is overlapped with publicly available information on salmon migration routes, only one third of the recent trip was accompanied by well -known salmon routes.
The ship’s helicopter was also designed to organize patrols with Japanese Canadian fisheries “to” follow fishing vessels and support partners to ensure international law “, according to a statement.
Prime Minister Mark Carney promised to expand the dimension of the Canadian Coast Guard, safety powers and abilities as part of the Liberal Government’s plan to increase the country’s defense. In the end, the Federal Government is currently intending to integrate under the Fisheries Department under the NATO defense of Canada, as Carney said last June, “better ensures our sovereignty and expands shipping control.”
Last summer, the Royal Canadian Navy sent Fregat to follow the Xue Long 2 on an Arctic journey – an operation that is recognized by the National Defense Institute for more than a week.
Military experts have described the Chinese Ice research platform as a dual-use platform-what indicates that it has military or defense capacity.
Canada is planning a great expansion of the Arctic Army, increasing its presence several months a year and inviting more NATO troops to join. The aim of the change is to convince sovereignty and to respond to the pressure of US President Donald Trump.
Michael Byers, an Arctic expert at British Colombia University, said they believe that Canadian officials would become more of a security threat that they believe in the ship.
“You have to actually have a proper threat assessment,” Byers told CBC News in an interview.
Byers admitted that a Chinese ship could collect military -relevant information, but he would question if the term “double use” relies on assumptions and not on evidence.
Relationships with China are still tightened, and Byers said that statements that are “potentially increasing” about what the Chinese are – and are not – in the Arctic area must be carefully examined.
He will then fully support the monitoring of the army and coastal guard.
“We are very concerned about China’s growing military force, and apparently China is very strongly supporting Russia with respect to the Ukrainian attack,” Byers said.
“So yes, if the Chinese government ship sails anywhere near the United States or Canada, yes, we will follow it.”
