Five Chinese naval ships are currently positioned in the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska, US officials confirm.
It is believed to be the first time Chinese military vessels have been seen operating in the area.
Officials say they have been monitoring the ships' activities, but said they were operating in international waters.
In
recent years Beijing has taken a more assertive stance on maritime
territorial disputes with Japan and South East Asian nations.
'Not threatening'
US
defence officials have spotted three Chinese combat ships, a supply
vessel and an amphibious ship moving toward the Aleutian Islands which
is split between Russian and US control, according to the Wall Street Journal.
They
were seen not far from where US President Barack Obama is visiting as
part of his three-day tour of Alaska to raise awareness of the effects
of climate change on the state.
"We are aware of the five People's
Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) ships in the Bering Sea. This is the first
time we have observed PLAN ships in the Bering Sea," US defence
department spokesman Bill Urban told the BBC on Wednesday.
"We
respect the freedom of all nations to operate military vessels in
international waters in accordance with international law," he said.
Media captionChina has seen several years of double-digit defence spending increases
Another
official told the Wall Street Journal the defence department did not
"characterise anything they're doing as threatening".
Peter
Dutton, director of the China Maritime Studies Institute, described it
as a big advancement in the way Chinese ships operate.
But, he
tells the BBC, "it's not a surprise in a sense that the Chinese have
been continually expanding their presence in Eurasia".
"They have
conducted exercises with Russia in the Mediterranean and in the Sea of
Japan... they have interest in the northern sea route so to see them off
the coast of Alaska is the next evolutionary step along these lines."
Patrick Cronin, of the Center for a New American
Security. agrees, saying "it's part of a pattern over the last six years
or so of China getting tougher in maritime space".
China wants
to rewrite international maritime laws so that they are more favourable
to its own interests, particularly in the South China Sea where rival
countries are wrangling over territory, Mr Cronin adds.
China this
year boosted its defence spending in a bid to modernise its forces,
including developing stealth fighters and anti-satellite missiles, a
move that has unnerved the US and its allies in the Asia-Pacific region.
President Xi Jinping will on Thursday preside over an enormous military parade in Beijing in commemoration of China's World War Two victory over Japan 70 years ago.
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