Chinese Embassy in the US Photo: VCG

The Chinese government has never required, and will never require, Chinese companies to collect or provide data, information or intelligence located in foreign countries for the Chinese government in ways that violate local laws, Liu Chang, spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in the US, told the Global Times in a written response on Wednesday.

Liu made the remarks in response to an inquiry from the Global Times regarding reports that US administration officials have claimed that Chinese shipping company COSCO had used concealed equipment to "spy on military communications near the coastlines of target nations, including the US."

China consistently opposes groundless smears against it by hyping so-called "Chinese intelligence gathering overseas," Liu said.

A Reuters report on Tuesday, citing two senior US government officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, alleged that COSCO has a decades-long intelligence-collection partnership with Beijing. The officials claimed the arrangement allows China to collect communication signals from vessels and aircraft operating across Europe, North America and Asia.

One of the officials claimed that advanced equipment aboard the ships was intended to gather information about military communications technologies and encryption developments, as well as monitor major shipping lanes and maritime routes used for trade and military navigation. However, the officials did not specify what equipment COSCO ships were allegedly using, describing it only as "sophisticated signals intelligence collection" platforms rather than routine communications hardware.

The allegation that Chinese commercial vessels spy on military communications is completely groundless and represents another attempt to smear Chinese companies by overstretching the concept of national security, Shen Yi, director of the International Research Institute of Global Cyberspace Governance at Fudan University, told the Global Times on Wednesday.

"Large numbers of cargo ships operated by US companies also call at Chinese ports every day. Before making baseless accusations against Chinese vessels, shouldn't the US first prove that its own ships are not engaged in such activities?" Shen said.

This is not the first time COSCO has been targeted by Washington. The Pentagon added COSCO to its list of companies it claimed were linked to the Chinese military in January 2025. The designation carries reputational costs and US government procurement restrictions, but does not itself amount to formal sanctions, Reuters reported.

The Trump administration had planned last year to implement billions of dollars in port fees on Chinese shipping companies, ⁠including COSCO, in an effort to revitalize the atrophied US shipbuilding and maritime industries. The plan was later suspended under a year-long China-US trade detente reached in October 2025, with the arrangement due to expire in November, according to Reuters.

According to Reuters, COSCO remains one of the top global shipping companies calling at US ports and has several terminal service joint ventures for container ships ​at US ports.

Shen said the timing of the latest allegations against COSCO could be intended to give Washington additional bargaining leverage in future discussions over port fees on Chinese shipping companies. "By fabricating an accusation without solid evidence, the US may be seeking a pretext to pressure a Chinese company into paying additional fees," Shen said.

The accusation against COSCO, made by anonymous US officials without publicly presenting specific supporting evidence, may reflect that Washington is projecting its own historical practices onto China, Shen said.