Chinese state-run newspaper claims warships could ‘soon’ near Hawaii

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Chinese warships could “soon” show up near Hawaii and Guam, according to China’s state-run newspaper “Global Times.”

The newspaper said warships could be on their way following claims that the US Navy challenged international waters near Beijing.

The Global Times’ editor-in-chief, Hu Xijin, tweeted: “Hopefully when Chinese warships pass through the Caribbean Sea or show up near Hawaii and Guam one day, the US will uphold the same standard of freedom of navigation. That day will come soon.”

The US Navy responded to the tweet, saying they continue to uphold freedom of navigation and pointed out that Chinese spy ships have sailed freely near Hawaii in the past.

The @USNavy has upheld the standards of freedom of navigation longer than the PLA navy has existed. Here's a more recent example you may have forgotten https://t.co/DOPOprv57N https://t.co/ZTzF4pqyUs
— Navy Chief of Information (@chinfo) September 8, 2021

Meanwhile, the US Coast Guard recently released pictures of an operation near Alaska’s Aleutian Islands last month, in which crews encountered four Chinese warships operating in international waters roughly 60 miles off US soil.

“While the ships were within the US exclusive economic zone, they followed international laws and norms and at no point entered U.S. territorial waters,” officials said.

This story may be updated.