Security experts fear China's fleet of civilian research vessels are being used to gather intelligence for a potential conflict. (ABC News: Graphics by Jarrod Fankhauser)
In the final days of May, a Chinese research vessel ventured 74 kilometres into Palau's waters and reportedly spent 14 hours moving slowly through the island nation's maritime zone.
With a bow built to push through a metre of Arctic sea ice, the 89-metre icebreaker, Ji Di, might have looked out of place in the warm waters of the North Pacific.
The Ji Di was designed to push through polar sea ice. (U.S. Coast Guard Courtesy Photo)
Exactly what it was doing remains unclear to Palau's President Surangel Whipps Jr.
"Their research vessels come into our EEZ (Exclusive Economic Zone) uninvited and do whatever they want," he said.
Launched in 2024, the Ji Di was designed to carry out environmental monitoring and surveying to respond to climate change, according to Chinese state media.
Its fleet of unmanned drones and underwater vehicles can map the sea floor and collect data on everything from undersea minerals, ocean currents and marine ecosystems.
But security experts fear the vessel, and dozens of others like it, might also be gathering intelligence for a military purpose — one that could aid Beijing in the event of a future conflict over Taiwan.
The Ji Di travelled roughly 74 kilometres into Palau's EEZ between May 30 and 31. (Micronesia Security Monitor)
The Ji Di's incursion was not an isolated incident for Palau.
Similar incidents were reported in 2018, 2024 and 2025, while in 2023, a Chinese vessel allegedly operated near Palau's fibre optic cable.
The most recent incursion, according to Mr Whipps, came in July, a day after China launched a ballistic missile from a submarine that flew over multiple Pacific islands.
The ABC was unable to independently confirm the incursion.
"They're surveying over the top of our fibre optic cable and they have gear in the water, so for us it's a security concern," Mr Whipps said.
