Does China Have a Secret Spy Fleet?

Uncover the enigma of China's alleged secret spy fleet disguised as civilian vessels. Dive into the mystery of the Zhuhai Cloud and explore the global history of covert naval operations. Watch now!

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[tonytrujillo]

I'm a former US Navy Operations Specialists. We were pulling into Chile for there naval birthday and parade celebration there was a Chinese Hospital ship already in port for the parade, looking through our Ship Optical system (a high powered camera) we could help notice the vast amount of antennas on top of the ship....

[Billhatestheinternet]

Shocked that the Glomar Explorer wasn't brought up. I mean, building a scientific research vessel with the sole purpose of recovering a Soviet nuclear submarine kinda meets the criteria.

[pmgn]

The line between civilian scientific and military 'oceanography' is gray and fuzzy! Considering China has an integrated civilian/military infrastructure, I'd be surprised if they didn't. So yes, they have one.
And so do many other nations.

[ApothecaryTerry]

I love the idea of any nation having a government-funded (even partially) vessel with cutting edge sensor equipment and not using it, to whatever extent, to gather intelligence.

If the Royal Navy was secretly arming merchant ships 109 years ago, it would be very odd if they, along with everyone else, weren't doing vaguely similar things now, but 109 years more advanced.

[patrickhasachannel]

Completely ignorant conjecture on my part but here's my theory: trip north provides framing and plausible deniability, and when they were closest to Taiwan, they were picking up their surveillance drones

[yoranthium]

Yes on the Independence and the Kitty Hawk I have personally seen the China spy fleet and the Russian spy fleet ships. Using yachts is a low cost instead of military craft.

[jtsnowman]

The resolution of said ruckus. I love it 😂😂

[spaz_matic]

Even their merchant marine fleet carries out clandestine operations in coordination with the “coast guard”.

[eaphantom]

Shouldn't this be on Into the Shadows? 😏
An odd Megaprojects. No matter, im going to enjoy this regardless.

[TheDroneOperator.]

The UK's David Attenborough so called "research vessel" is also one of these. I live not far from Cammel Lairds, the shipyard in which it was built along side Type 45 and frigate refurbishments. Large, black wrapped equipment was craned on to the ship many times under military armed guard.

[ignitionfrn]

1:05 - Chapter 1 - The zhuahai cloud
11:00 - Chapter 2 - Those in glass house

[evelyntodd]

Can't the ship do both things. It reminds me of when the US Navy funded a search for the Titanic so they could find a Russian submarine that had sunk.

[evilpandakillabzonattkoccu]

I...kind of presumed they had one already. I figured most major nations would. 🤷🏽‍♂️

[claytondennis]

Without actually watching the video.... the answer is YES. But it's nothing new or unique.

10 year US Navy Veteran.

[mgg]

As usual, superb writing and execution.

[steventicknor]

Now if warographics could get back to this style of reporting that would be great. No very obvious bias and straight facts exactly why I love the Whistlerverse and its content. Oh and Simon or writers y’all can happily use Whistlerverse if you think it’s good.

[miroslavhoudek]

These ships look quite innocent in comparison to the chinese paramilitary shipping fleet.

[simonchesterman]

Let's be honest here, if they don't have a secret spy fleet then someone isn't doing their job...

[emberverse.eth.]

It’s like Beau of the fifth says. “ Foreign Policy is an international poker game where everyone is cheating“

[gulkash]

Refering to the entire Pacific theater of WWII as a "little ruckus starting in Hawaii"... absolutely gold