China awards 91 fishermen for capturing foreign spy devices since 2016

China awards 91 fishermen for capturing foreign spy devices since 2016

Source: Global Times

4/15/2021

China awards 91 fishermen for capturing foreign spy devices since 2016

China has awarded 91 fishermen living in coastal cities for capturing different types of foreign devices with spying functions since 2016 as the country faces a growing threat to its maritime security.

A report published by Central China Television on Wednesday, a day ahead of the National Security Education Day, revealed that fishermen from various cities in East China's Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, South China's Hainan province and Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have reported to the government that they had caught foreign spy devices.

In one example, a fisherman in Yancheng, Jiangsu Province, caught a device that looks like a boat with a length of about 3 meters. Tang Jiansheng, an expert on underwater acoustic engineering, told the media that the top looks like a boat but has a part on the bottom which is made up of six wings connected by an umbilical cord. It has a propeller behind it and, judging from its shape, it is actually a wave glider.

This wave glider has very good directional control under water, so it should be one of the most advanced designs. The expert said the wave glider is a new type of marine unmanned device, powered by the waves' ups and downs, marching forward using solar energy for gathering data, communication, and positioning. The glider carries a huge number of sensors, which are also able to measure environmental parameters of the oceans.