Diplomatic Ripples: China’s dual-use surveillance ship finally leaves Sri Lankan port

The ship arrived at the Hambantota port.

The vessel left China on July 12 to carry out routine tracking missions to support the launch of Wentian, a core component of China’s space station, according to China’s state media Science and Technology Daily as quoted as South China Morning Post.

After the successful launch of Wentian on July 24, the vessel planned to dock at Hambantota on August 11, a port call that was previously deferred because of concerns raised, particularly by India.

“The Yuan Wang 5 is primarily a satellite monitoring vessel but it is also likely able to gather telemetry data from missile launches.… India could have been worried that the Chinese ship would be able to gather data from such tests,” Ridzwan Rahmat, principal defence analyst at Janes, told the newspaper.

The misgivings stem mainly from Yuan Wang 5’s controversial dual-use features, according to Rajeev Ranjan Chaturvedy, an associate professor in international relations from Nalanda University in India.

“This surveillance ship is being used by the Chinese military to track satellites and space activities. This sophisticated space and satellite vessel’s visit was a cause of concern because of its advanced features to collect sensitive information,” Chaturvedy said.