A Chinese research vessel was driven away from waters east of Taiwan on Sunday while operating near the island's shores ahead of sensitive weapons tests later this month.
Images shared with Newsweek by the plane and ship spotting group Taiwan ADIZ captured the research vessel Tan Kah Kee, also known as the Jia Geng, off Taiwan's eastern Yilan county.
Also in the photographs was Taiwan's Miaoli-class patrol vessel Taitung, which later "expelled" the Chinese ship, the group said. In a radio intercept, the Taitung said the Jia Geng had entered the island's "prohibited or restricted" maritime zones.
Vessel-tracking data on the MarineTraffic website showed the ship coming within 19.5 nautical miles of Taiwan's Wushibi headland, which is 7 miles south of Suao naval base facing the Pacific Ocean.
Newsweek could not independently verify the GPS data, while Taiwan's Defense Ministry declines to provide specifics about encounters with foreign vessels at sea.
Newsweek reached out to the Jia Geng's operators for comment.
The Jia Geng is a 3,600-ton seismic vessel owned by Xiamen University's Marine Operations. It is equipped with acoustic sensors and weather radars and can launch uncrewed submarines to map the ocean floor.
The university said the "modern, highly capable research ship" entered service in 2017, the same year it was formerly incorporated into China's State Oceanographic Research Fleet.
The United States and its allies and partners in the region are increasingly sensitive about China's marine survey activity, particularly that which takes place near their coast.
In a detailed report published earlier this year, the Center for International and Strategic Studies, a Washington think tank, said China was using research vessels—dual-purpose platforms—to help the country's armed forces better prepare for war.
"Exploring and mapping the world's oceans is not unique to China," CSIS said. "China is also not alone in applying oceanographic research to support military needs. Yet the scale of China's activities is immense, and the line between its civilian and military research is heavily blurred."
Data on Global Fishing Watch, a group that tracks commercial fishing and coast guard vessels, showed the Jia Geng departing Xiamen in mid-May before sailing along Taiwan's northern and eastern shores into the Western Pacific.
It went on to perform zip-zag patterns in the nearby Philippine Sea while presumably capturing the seabed topography in waters frequented by U.S. Navy vessels. As of Monday, it was broadcasting a location in the Taiwan Strait.
The Jia Geng's appearance comes as Taiwan's armed forces prepare for the 40th Han Kuang drills, the island's largest annual exercise to repel a Chinese amphibious invasion.
Taiwan held tabletop war games from April 19 to 26 and is scheduled to hold the live-fire segment of its drills from July 22 to 26.
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