Strait of Hormuz transiting ships flash ‘China owner’ signals to evade Iran blockade
Analysts see ‘diplomatic bulletproofing’ in vessels leveraging Beijing’s neutrality, while some Chinese-linked ships clear chokepoint
The crews of at least 11 vessels sitting in the Gulf of Oman and the Persian Gulf had their transponders set to announce Chinese links on Friday afternoon, according to Kpler’s MarineTraffic data platform.
The broadcasts were a defensive measure, said Cui Shoujun, director of the Institute of International Development Studies at Renmin University’s School of International Studies.
The commercial vessels – flying the flags of Panama, the Marshall Islands, Kuwait and Guinea – displayed messages such as “China owner and crew” and “China cargo”, MarineTraffic showed.
“Foreign vessels borrowing Chinese identities primarily seek to leverage China’s ‘relative neutrality’ in geopolitics, effectively providing merchant ships with a layer of ‘diplomatic bulletproofing’,” Cui said.
“The practice has evolved into a systematic risk-mitigation strategy amid the escalating Middle East conflict.”