Fake Vessel Signal with Anti-Japan Slur Detected Near Senkakus, Suspected to Origin from Chinese Naval Port

False vessel location information carrying a derogatory name targeting Japan appeared in waters near the Senkaku Islands (known as Diaoyu Islands in China), a territorial dispute area between Japan and China, last December, the Sankei Shimbun reported.

According to the newspaper, an analysis of Automatic Identification System (AIS) data showed that a signal from an unidentified cargo ship was detected near Uotsurishima in the Senkaku Islands at the time.

Data from Japan Coast Guard officials and marine traffic information provider MarineTraffic indicated that the vessel name was listed as "FUCK JAPAN."

However, patrol vessels from the 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters dispatched to the scene did not find the cargo ship in question in those waters.

An investigation suggested that the signal was a type of "spoofing" transmission that falsifies location information.

MarineTraffic analysis revealed that the main transmitting and receiving areas for this signal were near Zhoushan, Zhejiang Province, China, an area densely packed with naval ports of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Eastern Theater Command, which oversees the Taiwan direction.

Notably, this fake signal began to be detected 10 days before large-scale military drills conducted by the Chinese military to encircle Taiwan at the time, and cut off immediately after the exercises ended.

Consequently, Sankei analyzed that there is a possibility China intentionally sent the signal with the aim of disrupting the alert posture of the Japan Coast Guard.

Mori Aki, an associate professor at Doshisha University, said, "The falsification of AIS signals by Chinese vessels has been continuously reported overseas as well."

(Photo: Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.