Two senior officials in the Trump administration have accused China's state-owned shipping giant COSCO of using concealed equipment on its ships to spy on the military communications of nations along the coastline, including the US. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity and did not disclose any details about the military hardware used but said they were "sophisticated signals intelligence collection" platforms, not routine communications hardware.The officials alleged that COSCO had a decade-long intelligence-collection partnership with Beijing which allows China to collect communication signals from vessels ​and aircraft operating across Europe, North America and Asia. They claimed that it also allows China to monitor key shipping lanes and maritime routes crucial for trade and military navigation.The Chinese embassy in the US denied these allegations, saying that they were an attempt to vilify China. It claimed that China would never ​ask any company or individual to "collect or provide data, information or intelligence located abroad against local laws.""We oppose vilifying China by peddling the so-called 'intelligence collection' narrative, ‌which is ⁠totally baseless," said Liu Chang, spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Washington.Also Read: <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/nepal-floods-death-toll-1010-4000-missing-rescue-operations-1788268908795">Nepal floods: 1,010 dead, 4,000 missing; Kathmandu seeks climate compensation</a>Washington has not provided any proof backing these allegations. A 2025 study published by the US Naval War College also claimed that China is using fishing and commercial shipping fleets for intelligence and surveillance gathering. Pentagon has previously listed COSCO as associated with the Chinese Military, though it did not sanction it. China's National Intelligence Law explicitly mandates that all domestic organisations and citizens must cooperate with state intelligence operations. COSCO remains one of the top global shipping companies, with roughly 10.6 per cent of the global market share. &nbsp;It also remains one of the largest shipping companies calling at US ports and maintains several terminal service joint ventures for container ships ​at US ports.&nbsp;The Trump administration last year planned to implement billions of dollars in port fees on ​Chinese shipping companies, ⁠including COSCO, in an effort to revitalise the atrophied US shipbuilding and maritime industries. But later decided against it following an October meeting with Xi, when they agreed to a one-year trade truce, which is likely to be over by October 2026. Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit Washington in September 2026.&nbsp;

Two Trump administration officials have accused Chinese shipping giant COSCO of using concealed equipment to collect military communications, allegations Beijing denies.

Two senior officials in the Trump administration have accused China's state-owned shipping giant COSCO of using concealed equipment on its ships to spy on the military communications of nations along the coastline, including the US. The officials spoke on the condition of anonymity and did not disclose any details about the military hardware used but said they were "sophisticated signals intelligence collection" platforms, not routine communications hardware. The officials alleged that COSCO had a decade-long intelligence-collection partnership with Beijing which allows China to collect communication signals from vessels and aircraft operating across Europe, North America and Asia. They claimed that it also allows China to monitor key shipping lanes and maritime routes crucial for trade and military navigation. The Chinese embassy in the US denied these allegations, saying that they were an attempt to vilify China. It claimed that China would never ask any company or individual to "collect or provide data, information or intelligence located abroad against local laws." "We oppose vilifying China by peddling the so-called 'intelligence collection' narrative, ‌which is ⁠totally baseless," said Liu Chang, spokesperson of the Chinese Embassy in Washington. Also Read: Nepal floods: 1,010 dead, 4,000 missing; Kathmandu seeks climate compensation Washington has not provided any proof backing these allegations. A 2025 study published by the US Naval War College also claimed that China is using fishing and commercial shipping fleets for intelligence and surveillance gathering. Pentagon has previously listed COSCO as associated with the Chinese Military, though it did not sanction it. China's National Intelligence Law explicitly mandates that all domestic organisations and citizens must cooperate with state intelligence operations. COSCO remains one of the top global shipping companies, with roughly 10.6 per cent of the global market share. It also remains one of the largest shipping companies calling at US ports and maintains several terminal service joint ventures for container ships at US ports. The Trump administration last year planned to implement billions of dollars in port fees on Chinese shipping companies, ⁠including COSCO, in an effort to revitalise the atrophied US shipbuilding and maritime industries. But later decided against it following an October meeting with Xi, when they agreed to a one-year trade truce, which is likely to be over by October 2026. Chinese President Xi Jinping is scheduled to visit Washington in September 2026.

Two Trump administration officials have accused Chinese shipping giant COSCO of using concealed equipment to collect military communications, allegations Beijing denies.

US accuses COSCO of using concealed equipment to gather military signals

The German cabinet on Tuesday approved China’s Cosco buying&nbsp;a 24.9 per cent stake in HHLA, a container operator at Germany’s Hafen Hamburg port. The nod came despite calls from several quarters urging Chancellor Olaf Scholz to not let the Chinese company buy stakes in the firm.

Referring to the deal, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson&nbsp;Wang Wenbin said Beijing hoped that&nbsp;"relevant parties would see pragmatic cooperation between China and Germany rationally (and) stop gratuitous speculation."

Earlier, Cosco was attempting to buy a 35 per cent stake in the company. However, the smaller-than-planned stake was necessitated after Germany learned its painful lesson of being overtly dependent on a single country, in the aftermath of the Russian gas crisis.&nbsp;

Yet,&nbsp;it appears that&nbsp;Scholz used his veto power to allow the deal to go through. As reported by WION, last month, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said that Berlin couldn't be allowed to be blackmailed by other countries, hinting at China.

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/videos/gravitas-germany-next-in-chinas-trap-317115">WATCH |&nbsp;Gravitas: Germany | Next in China's trap?</a>

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He referred to Cosco-HHLA and said he was against the deal. "I’m leaning towards the fact that we don’t allow that," said&nbsp;Habeck.&nbsp;&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/once-bitten-twice-shy-after-russia-lesson-germany-to-reconsider-trade-deal-with-china-516058">Read more:&nbsp;Once bitten, twice shy: After Russia lesson, Germany to reconsider trade deal with China</a>

Notably, China is Germany's biggest trade partner for the last six years. The volume of trade between the two nations reached $246 billion in 2021. However, the trade is imbalanced as Germany is much more dependent on China.&nbsp;

Berlin's trade deficit with Beijing has increased to almost $41 billion as of mid-2022. While German imports to China have only increased by 12.4 per cent in the first half of 2022 compared to 3.4 per cent in 2000, the German imports of Chinese goods have leapt an astronomical 45.7 per cent on a year-on-year basis.

China has been known to use its advantageous position in bilateral trade to coerce sovereign governments by bending them to its will. The German opposition has protested against the deal and questioned Scholz.&nbsp;

(With inputs from agencies)

WATCH WION&nbsp;LIVE HERE:&nbsp;

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The German cabinet on Tuesday approved China’s Cosco buying a 24.9 per cent stake in HHLA, a container operator at Germany’s Hafen Hamburg port. The nod came despite calls from several quarters urging Chancellor Olaf Scholz to not let the Chinese company buy stakes in the firm.

The German cabinet on Tuesday approved China’s Cosco buying a 24.9 per cent stake in HHLA, a container operator at Germany’s Hafen Hamburg port. The nod came despite calls from several quarters urging Chancellor Olaf Scholz to not let the Chinese company buy stakes in the firm. Referring to the deal, Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said Beijing hoped that "relevant parties would see pragmatic cooperation between China and Germany rationally (and) stop gratuitous speculation." Earlier, Cosco was attempting to buy a 35 per cent stake in the company. However, the smaller-than-planned stake was necessitated after Germany learned its painful lesson of being overtly dependent on a single country, in the aftermath of the Russian gas crisis. Yet, it appears that Scholz used his veto power to allow the deal to go through. As reported by WION, last month, German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said that Berlin couldn't be allowed to be blackmailed by other countries, hinting at China. WATCH | Gravitas: Germany | Next in China's trap? × He referred to Cosco-HHLA and said he was against the deal. "I’m leaning towards the fact that we don’t allow that," said Habeck. Read more: Once bitten, twice shy: After Russia lesson, Germany to reconsider trade deal with China Notably, China is Germany's biggest trade partner for the last six years. The volume of trade between the two nations reached $246 billion in 2021. However, the trade is imbalanced as Germany is much more dependent on China. Berlin's trade deficit with Beijing has increased to almost $41 billion as of mid-2022. While German imports to China have only increased by 12.4 per cent in the first half of 2022 compared to 3.4 per cent in 2000, the German imports of Chinese goods have leapt an astronomical 45.7 per cent on a year-on-year basis. China has been known to use its advantageous position in bilateral trade to coerce sovereign governments by bending them to its will. The German opposition has protested against the deal and questioned Scholz. (With inputs from agencies) WATCH WION LIVE HERE:

Germany allows Chinese company to buy stakes in container operator at its largest port

Freight rates for US crude tankers bound for Asia were bid up to a more than three-year peak this week as US sanctions on a Chinese transport giant cut vessel availability, traders and shipbrokers said.

The United States last week imposed sanctions on two units of China's COSCO for alleged involvement in ferrying crude out of Iran. That action prompted US Gulf Coast exporters to hold back chartering COSCO-linked vessels, traders and shipbrokers said.&nbsp;

One of the units - COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) - owns and manages at least 36 tankers for crude and refined products, including 18 huge crude carriers (VLCCs), according to shipping sources and Refinitiv data.

This week, suggested rates for VLCCs from the US Gulf Coast to China vaulted to $9.8 million, up from $6.2 million in early September, according to shipbroker McQuilling Services. VLCCs carry around 2<a href="https://www.wionews.com/business-economy/dollar-pinned-down-after-poor-us-manufacturing-data-pound-slips-253220"> million</a> barrels each.

To attract a ship into the Atlantic <a href="https://www.wionews.com/world/dollar">market</a>, it's going to cost about $10 million for US Gulf Coast shipments bound for China or South Korea, said another US shipbroker who brokers about 20 vessels per month.

Friday's highest quote was at $9.5 million for charterer Atlantic Trading &amp; Marketing, a unit of Total SA to book a VLCC from the US Gulf Coast to China, shipbrokers said. The deal did not go through, the brokers said, and Atlantic Trading declined to comment.

No transactions for supertankers from the US Gulf Coast to Asia have been executed this week, shipbrokers said.

Occidental Petroleum Corp last week replaced a COSCO-operated supertanker, Coswish Lake, following the US sanctions, by chartering smaller vessels from Texas to destinations in Asia, shipbrokers said.

The Coswish Lake had anchored off Corpus Christi, Texas, since September 23 and departed on Sunday without loading crude, according to Refinitiv Eikon data.

Occidental did not respond to requests for comment.

The surge in freight costs has narrowed the window to profitably export US crude to Asia and left some US crude exporters reluctant to book vessels at the higher rates. That could limit November loadings and exports unless more vessels become available in the coming weeks, traders said.

"People are nervous about locking freight in at these high levels, which is why the last week has been so quiet," one US crude oil trader said.

Similarly, freight rates for supertankers loading West African crude in October for Asia have also risen more than 20 per cent to nearly 90 Worldscale points.&nbsp; 
The rise in freight rates is driving up crude costs for Asian refiners and threatening to make shipping oil to Asia unviable, traders said.

"Currently, West African and Latin American crude is too expensive," a source with a North Asian refiner said. Economics of US crude is good, but freight has become an issue, the source said.

Buyers may turn to more crude from the Asia Pacific and Middle East, which have shorter shipping distances, or spot premiums for long-distance cargoes will have to fall to displace the higher freight costs, a Singapore-based trader said.

Freight rates for US crude tankers bound for Asia were bid up to a more than three-year peak this week as US sanctions on a Chinese transport giant cut vessel availability, traders and shipbrokers said.

Freight rates for US crude tankers bound for Asia were bid up to a more than three-year peak this week as US sanctions on a Chinese transport giant cut vessel availability, traders and shipbrokers said. The United States last week imposed sanctions on two units of China's COSCO for alleged involvement in ferrying crude out of Iran. That action prompted US Gulf Coast exporters to hold back chartering COSCO-linked vessels, traders and shipbrokers said. One of the units - COSCO Shipping Tanker (Dalian) - owns and manages at least 36 tankers for crude and refined products, including 18 huge crude carriers (VLCCs), according to shipping sources and Refinitiv data. This week, suggested rates for VLCCs from the US Gulf Coast to China vaulted to $9.8 million, up from $6.2 million in early September, according to shipbroker McQuilling Services. VLCCs carry around 2 million barrels each. To attract a ship into the Atlantic market, it's going to cost about $10 million for US Gulf Coast shipments bound for China or South Korea, said another US shipbroker who brokers about 20 vessels per month. Friday's highest quote was at $9.5 million for charterer Atlantic Trading & Marketing, a unit of Total SA to book a VLCC from the US Gulf Coast to China, shipbrokers said. The deal did not go through, the brokers said, and Atlantic Trading declined to comment. No transactions for supertankers from the US Gulf Coast to Asia have been executed this week, shipbrokers said. Occidental Petroleum Corp last week replaced a COSCO-operated supertanker, Coswish Lake, following the US sanctions, by chartering smaller vessels from Texas to destinations in Asia, shipbrokers said. The Coswish Lake had anchored off Corpus Christi, Texas, since September 23 and departed on Sunday without loading crude, according to Refinitiv Eikon data. Occidental did not respond to requests for comment. The surge in freight costs has narrowed the window to profitably export US crude to Asia and left some US crude exporters reluctant to book vessels at the higher rates. That could limit November loadings and exports unless more vessels become available in the coming weeks, traders said. "People are nervous about locking freight in at these high levels, which is why the last week has been so quiet," one US crude oil trader said. Similarly, freight rates for supertankers loading West African crude in October for Asia have also risen more than 20 per cent to nearly 90 Worldscale points. The rise in freight rates is driving up crude costs for Asian refiners and threatening to make shipping oil to Asia unviable, traders said. "Currently, West African and Latin American crude is too expensive," a source with a North Asian refiner said. Economics of US crude is good, but freight has become an issue, the source said. Buyers may turn to more crude from the Asia Pacific and Middle East, which have shorter shipping distances, or spot premiums for long-distance cargoes will have to fall to displace the higher freight costs, a Singapore-based trader said.

Oil shipping rates from US to Asia hit 3-year high, quieting November trade - Sources

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