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Two U.S. senators introduced bipartisan legislation on Monday aimed at barring Chinese and Russian government-linked vessels from conducting research operations in U.S. Arctic waters, reflecting growing concern in Washington that scientific missions are increasingly being used to support intelligence gathering and strategic competition in the High North.
The Arctic Security and Diplomacy Act, introduced by Republican Senator Mike Lee and Democratic Senator Jeanne Shaheen, would prohibit vessels from adversarial nations from conducting research in the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) and on the U.S. continental shelf.
"The United States must not tolerate China's increasing incursions into U.S. waters under the guise of surveys and research," Lee said in a statement announcing the bill. He said the legislation would "shut the door to foreign adversaries attempting to commit espionage and exercise influence at our doorstep in the Arctic."
Shaheen, the top Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said Russia and China were expanding their footprint across the region and increasingly cooperating in the Arctic.
"This bipartisan legislation will help ensure that foreign vessels linked to China, Russia and other adversaries cannot exploit scientific research as a cover for espionage or intelligence-gathering activities in American waters," she said.
"I recently returned from a bipartisan congressional delegation to Canada, Greenland, Norway and Iceland, where we heard firsthand how Russia and China are expanding their presence and influence across the Arctic," she continued.
The legislation comes after a sharp increase in Chinese research vessel activity near Alaska. In August 2025, the U.S. Coast Guard said it was monitoring five Chinese research vessels operating in or near the U.S. Arctic, including the polar icebreaker Xue Long 2, the largest Chinese scientific presence yet observed in the region.
Maritime security analysts have increasingly raised concerns that scientific expeditions can generate seabed mapping, hydrographic, and oceanographic data with both civilian and military applications.
Chinese vessels operating near the U.S. Arctic conducted extensive submersible operations and deep-water research missions during the 2025 season, demonstrating capabilities possessed by only a handful of countries. Such operations can help improve understanding of underwater terrain, communications infrastructure and submarine operating environments.
The proposed legislation also reflects broader concerns about growing Chinese-Russian cooperation in the Arctic. In 2024, a flotilla of four Russian and Chinese vessels conducted joint operations near Alaska and transited the Bering Strait multiple times, one of several high-profile demonstrations of increasing military and maritime coordination between the two countries.
Russia, which controls more than half of the Arctic coastline, has spent years rebuilding military bases and infrastructure across its northern territories, while China has expanded its fleet of icebreakers, research vessels and polar-capable ships. Last year U.S. officials warned of an unprecedented number of Chinese military and research vessels operating in or near American Arctic waters.
For now, the U.S. Coast Guard's Arctic presence relies largely on the heavy icebreaker Healy and the recently commissioned icebreaker Storis, both of which have been used to monitor foreign vessel activity near Alaska.
The service is seeking to strengthen its ability to track and respond to foreign activity through its planned fleet of Arctic Security Cutters, which officials say will provide a more persistent U.S. presence in a region increasingly viewed as a strategic maritime frontier.
The proposed bill will be considered in the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations on June 17.
Fuente: GCAPTAIN_NEWS
