Both Canada and the U.S. have been quietly shadowing two Chinese icebreaking research ships in Arctic waters off Alaska over the last couple of weeks.
The Xue Long (Snow Dragon) and Xue Long (Snow Dragon) 2 sailed north through the U.S. exclusive economic zone in the Bering Sea in July, according to the U.S. Coast Guard.
The appearance of Chinese research ships every summer in the Arctic Ocean over the last few years has been a subject of growing concern among security and defence officials.
Data compiled by Steffan Watkins, an independent research consultant and ship tracker, shows a Royal Canadian Air Force CP-140 surveillance plane has been operating out of Alaska since early July.
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"The Canadian Joint Operations Command is actively monitoring maritime traffic in the Arctic, including the vessels Xue Long and Xue Long 2," defence spokesperson Cheryl Forrest said in a written statement.
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Last year, the Canadian military began a focused effort to better monitor northern waters and co-ordinate with allies in the Pacific Ocean, including the Bering Sea off Alaska, under the banner of Operation Latitude.
The Royal Canadian Navy has committed the frigate HMCS Ottawa and the Arctic offshore ships HMCS Max Bernays and HMCS Robert Hampton Gray, in addition to the air force's surveillance aircraft.
The defence department says Canadian Special Operations Forces Command personnel and the icebreaker CCGS Des Groseilliers are also taking part.
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When asked about the Chinese ships on Thursday, Defence Minister David McGuinty said the Canadian military actively monitors the country's waters.
China, which has declared itself a near-Arctic state, has repeatedly said the deployment of its icebreakers to the region is strictly for peaceful scientific research, environmental monitoring and global climate change studies.
Both research ships, however, have been known to deploy advanced sonar and telemetry buoys. Western defence officials say these devices not only track environmental changes and undersea topography, but are also useful in tracking submarine activity.
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There are no major international undersea fibre-optic cables in the Bering Sea region, but there is a regional subsea network vital to Alaska. Shimooka said he wonders how much time the Chinese are devoting to mapping that grid, in the same way the Russians are doing in the Baltic Sea and the North Atlantic.
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The federal government has begun investing heavily in the construction of new destroyers and begun the process of acquiring Arctic-capable submarines. It also plans to deploy an undersea network of sensors.
[Conservative defence critic James] Bezan said time is of the essence because the country's sovereignty is at stake.
"Russia and China do not recognize our maritime claims" in the Far North, including the Northwest Passage, Bezan said.
"So, we need to be investing in the Arctic. When you look at the vast amounts of resources, a high percentage of energy resources that are locked in the Arctic, including in the Beaufort Sea, we have to do more to protect it and defend against these adversaries."
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