The state-owned Chinese shipping company COSCO uses covert equipment aboard its vessels to intercept military communications off the coasts of other countries, including the United States, Reuters reported on Sept. 1, citing two senior officials in the Trump administration. According to the officials, COSCO has maintained a decades-long partnership with Beijing, allowing China to intercept communications signals from ships and aircraft in Europe, North America, and Asia.
In January 2025, the Pentagon included COSCO on its list of companies linked to the Chinese military. In April of that year, the U.S. Naval War College published a report stating that the People’s Liberation Army likely uses China’s fishing and merchant fleets for purposes of intelligence and surveillance. Chinese law requires companies in the country to assist the state with intelligence-gathering efforts.
Christopher Sharman, director of the China Maritime Studies Institute (CMSI) at the U.S. Naval War College, speaking in his personal capacity and stressing that his comments do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. government or the Department of War, told The Insider:
Over the past decade, Beijing has passed and revised numerous national-security laws. Beijing can likely use these laws to justify a broad range of restrictions, demands, and punitive actions on PRC and foreign companies as well as individuals. Many of these laws are vaguely worded, giving PRC authorities considerable latitude in how they are interpreted and applied.
COSCO Shipping Corporation Limited is the PRC’s largest state-owned shipping conglomerate. If Beijing wanted to leverage COSCO vessels or personnel in support of intelligence-collection activities, these national security laws would likely provide a legal framework through which the government could direct or compel cooperation.
One feature of China’s state-owned maritime sector that is particularly relevant is the presence of political commissars aboard PRC oceangoing commercial vessels, including those operated by COSCO. If the PRC government sought to direct a COSCO vessel to support intelligence-collection activities, the political commissar would provide an established Party presence aboard the ship through which such requirements could be communicated.
The political commissar serves as a Party-state representative aboard the vessel and is responsible for political and administrative affairs, including implementing PRC laws and regulations, conducting political work, maintaining the Party organization aboard the ship, and advancing broader national objectives. The political commissar shares senior authority aboard the vessel with the captain, who is primarily responsible for ship operations.
COSCO operates a large fleet of commercial vessels around the world. That global presence could provide Beijing with access to maritime environments and locations that would otherwise be more difficult to reach using dedicated government or military vessels. The same global reach that makes COSCO commercially valuable also makes its fleet potentially valuable to Beijing for pursuing national-security objectives worldwide.