China: Spy turtles steal state secrets

TT

Published 12.52

 

China warns that “spy turtles” and “spy fish” are being used to steal sensitive marine data. Archive photo. Photo: Cody Jackson/AP/TT

Foreign spies are equipping turtles and fish with sensors to create underwater maps of China’s coastline, Beijing warns.

“Under the deep water, underwater currents surge.”

That’s the headline of a post that China’s Ministry of State Security published on social media, claiming that international spy organizations are using new technology to steal sensitive marine data. The ministry calls it “a serious threat to China’s national security.”

“Relatively large marine animals with sensors attached to them have been discovered in some waters in China,” the ministry said in a piece titled “spy turtles, spy fish.”

It further claims that the creatures “were found swimming in a specific area and collecting sensitive data on water temperature, salinity and ocean currents, then transmitting it overseas via satellite.”