The Canadian military recently discovered evidence of Chinese surveillance in the Arctic. The discovery was first reported in the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail, raising concerns about China’s activities in the far north. The discovery follows the US’ recent allegations against China of sending spy balloons into US and Canadian airspace. China has also been accused of meddling in Canadian elections.
The Canadian military discovered monitoring buoys last fall as part of Operation Limpid
The Canadian military discovered monitoring buoys last fall as part of Operation Limpid, the Canadian military’s ongoing mission tasked with identifying threats to the country’s security by surveilling the land, sea, and air domains. Canadian Department of National Defence’s spokesperson Daniel Le Bouthillier, in a statement, said, “The Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) are fully aware of recent efforts by China to conduct surveillance operations in Canadian airspace and maritime approaches utilising dual-purpose technologies.”
“Under Operation LIMPID, the CAF monitors Canada’s air, land and sea approaches, and since 2022, it has stopped attempts to surveil Canadian territory,” he added. Bouthillier did not elaborate on what was discovered. “To ensure the integrity of operations, we are unable to provide further information at this time,” he said. According to retired lieutenant general Michael Day, China may have used buoys to monitor the traffic of US nuclear submarines in the Arctic as well as to map ice thickness and seabeds.
China is very interested in the significant changes occurring up north
“China, like most nations, is very interested in the significant changes occurring up north. “They don’t have an icebound port, but they do have a rapidly expanding icebreaking fleet,” he explained. He claimed that travelling through the Arctic would have taken China’s ships much less time than navigating around South America’s southern tip.
