According to USA Today, Chinese citizens posing as tourists visiting Alaska may actually be spies who are trying to gain access to U.S. military facilities.
“In one incident, a vehicle with Chinese citizens blew past a security checkpoint at Fort Wainwright in Fairbanks, several soldiers told USA TODAY. The vehicle was eventually stopped, and a search found a drone inside the vehicle. The occupants claimed they were tourists who had gotten lost,” the newspaper reported.
“Many of the encounters have been chalked up to innocent mistakes by foreign visitors intent on viewing the Northern Lights and other attractions in Alaska, officials say. Other attempts to enter U.S. military bases, however, seem to be probes to learn about U.S. military capabilities in Alaska, according to multiple soldiers familiar with the incidents but who were not authorized to speak publicly about them,” the newspaper reported.
Not everyone who appear to be tourists in Alaska, are, in fact tourists, one Army officer told the newspaper. Instead, they are foreign spies.
In January, a Chinese spy balloon entered U.S. Air Defense Zone off of the Aleutian Islands and traveled across Alaska. The Biden Administration allowed the balloon to proceed across the country until it reached the Atlantic Ocean, where it was finally destroyed over water.
“Whether it’s a Chinese spy balloon, Russian Bear Bombers, or this new reporting of suspected Chinese spies in Alaska, this is another wake-up call that we are in a new era of authoritarian aggression led by dictators in China and Russia. It’s also another example of just how important Alaska is for America’s national defense. In my oversight, I am pressing for more details on these alleged security breaches and will continue to work with the Defense Department to ensure our installations in Alaska remain secure,” said Sen. Dan Sullivan in a statement.
In 2020, a rash of suspected Chinese spy incidents took place in Florida. A Chinese woman entered the grounds of Mar-a-Lago through the service entrance, possibly passing as staff, and took photos with her cell phone. She was the second Chinese woman to try that stunt in a year.
Eight days later, a Chinese man walked around the fence of the U.S. Naval Base Air Station Key West, and took pictures of the base buildings.
Nine days after that, two Chinese students were stopped at the Key West base after they were seen taking photos of the base.
Alaska’s bases, which are spread over vast landscapes, are apparently not immune to spying, although the USA Today story is not quoting named sources.
Federal authorities are working to answer those questions, according to the newspaper. FBI counterintelligence agents are investigating whether the spate of incidents might be part of a coordinated espionage effort.
Former Gov. Bill Walker, seen above greeting China President Xi Jinping to Alaska in 2017, used his term in office to try to make a deal with China to finance and help build an Alaska gasline, and he was preparing to seal a deal to sell most of Alaska’s natural gas to China.
The Chinese government, which signed loan agreements with Walker in 2017, would have established Alaska as a “debt trap” province of communist Chinese entities.
China began spying on State of Alaska computers during Walker’s overtures to President Xi Jinping, as part of Walker’s quest to get financing for the Alaska Gasline.
Photo: Gov. Bill Walker welcomes China President Xi Jinping to Alaska in 2017.
