China warns foreign governments to stop using ‘spy turtles’ for intelligence gathering
A sea turtle carrying a sensor device in a conceptual illustration inspired by China's 'spy turtle' claims.
China warned foreign governments in a statement earlier this month to stop sending turtles and fish to collect intelligence in the country’s waters.
In a statement titled Under the deep blue, undercurrents are surging published on the social media site WeChat on June 12, the Ministry of State Security (MSS) said that foreign intelligence agencies were attaching sensors to turtles and fish, as well as using other underwater surveillance devices, such as surveillance buoys, wave gliders, and ship-mounted monitoring equipment, to monitor military movements and map the country’s coastline.
An “unseen covert war of espionage” is taking place in the seas around China, the statement reads, and the ministry added that officials have found “relatively large marine animals with sensors attached” that were collecting data on water temperature, salinity, and ocean currents. This information was then sent overseas via satellite.
However, no specific country was named in the statement. Neither was any evidence provided that “spy turtles” or “spy fish” had been captured.
Nevertheless, the MSS argued that this type of data could aid foreign governments to create underwater maps, track submarines, and identify weaknesses in China’s coastal defences. This data, in turn, might “seriously endanger China’s national security, military security, and economic security.”
How the warnings came about
In 2024, China first reported discovering submerged monitoring devices as well as underwater “lighthouses” in contested maritime regions, including areas near the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait.
That year, and into 2025, the government boosted its public counter-espionage efforts, asking Chinese fishermen, researchers, and vessel operators to report suspicious foreign surveillance activities. Moreover, Beijing offered rewards of as much as 500,000 yuan (around S$95,000) for recovered intelligence equipment.
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After a public servant was allegedly lured by a foreign agent’s beauty, China warned government workers last year to be careful not to fall for "honeytrap" schemes. /TISG
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Senior Writer