Three House Republicans are pushing for a hard reset on how a Chinese shipping giant is treated at American ports, arguing that security concerns now outweigh the perks tied to trusted-carrier status. Their demand lands amid fresh allegations that COSCO vessels may have been used to snoop on U.S. military communications, which has put the Coast Guard’s inspection rules under a microscope.
COSCO, a massive shipping and logistics company owned by the Chinese Communist Party and based in Shanghai, has benefited from the Coast Guard’s Qualship 21 program, a system meant to reward carriers with strong safety records. But after a September report raised espionage concerns, Republican lawmakers say those benefits no longer make sense, especially for a company the Pentagon has already flagged as tied to China’s military.
In a letter dated Oct. 14, House China Committee Chairman John Moolenaar, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Rick Crawford of Arkansas, and Rep. Carlos Gimenez, who leads the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Transportation and Maritime Security, called on Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to strip COSCO vessels from the program. They pointed to records showing that as of July 15, 2026, 11 COSCO ships were still listed in Qualship 21 even after the Pentagon placed the company on its Section 1260H list of Chinese military companies in January 2025.
The lawmakers argue that this is more than a paperwork problem. The program is built to ease the burden on trusted ships entering U.S. ports, but they say a company accused of helping Beijing’s military-civil fusion strategy should not be getting a lighter touch from American inspectors. That point has become even more sensitive as officials weigh whether commercial vessels can double as intelligence platforms.
The spark for the latest push was reporting that COSCO vessels may have used hidden equipment to intercept military communications and collect intelligence about encryption technology off U.S. coastlines. COSCO has rejected those claims, saying its navigation and communications gear is for ordinary commercial use and denying that any of its equipment was used to spy on military traffic.
Still, the worries are not fading. COSCO is one of the biggest shipping companies in the world, its fleet runs major trade routes, and many of those routes touch American ports. When a company that large also sits inside the orbit of the Chinese state, the concern is not just about cargo, but about what else may be moving quietly in the background.
The Pentagon’s designation matters here because it signals that COSCO is not being viewed like a typical private ship operator. Officials cited the company’s ownership structure, alleged work on behalf of the People’s Liberation Army, and its role in Beijing’s broader military-civil fusion drive, which aims to turn civilian industry into a force multiplier for the state.
That creates a sharp mismatch, according to the lawmakers. A carrier singled out by the Pentagon as having military ties should not, in their view, continue to enjoy streamlined entry into U.S. ports without a closer look, especially if intelligence warnings were already floating around before the public learned about the allegations.
The letter also presses for answers on whether the Coast Guard knew about the reported surveillance activity before it became public, and whether that information ever factored into COSCO’s eligibility. The lawmakers want DHS to revoke the company’s enrollment, deny future renewals, and take a broader look at other shipping operators with ties to the Chinese Communist Party.
The questions do not stop there. The Republicans asked whether the Coast Guard has checked crew members, reviewed shipping routes for suspicious behavior, or carried out extra boardings on COSCO vessels already operating in U.S. waters. They also want to know if the agency has enough legal authority to deal with suspected espionage aboard foreign commercial ships, or whether it needs help from other federal agencies to catch it early.
One especially telling part of the inquiry is the focus on Hong Kong. The lawmakers raised the possibility of removing Hong Kong from the Coast Guard’s list of qualified flag administrations, arguing that Beijing’s grip on the territory makes that status harder to defend. The letter was also sent to the director of national intelligence and the Coast Guard commandant, which shows just how seriously the issue is being taken inside Washington.
The broader fear is simple and ugly: a commercial fleet can be used as cover. If that suspicion is right, then every port call, every inspection shortcut, and every blind spot becomes a national security problem that is hard to ignore.
