China-owned shipping company collects intel for Beijing with concealed equipment on ships: report

China's state-owned shipping company COSCO uses concealed equipment on board its vessels to spy on military communications near the coastlines, according to two senior Trump administration officials. 

The unnamed sources told U.S. News and World Report that the company has a decades-long intelligence-gathering partnership with Beijing, and the arrangement allows China to collect communications from vessels and aircraft operating across Europe, North America and Asia.

The intelligence gathered by the advanced equipment allows China to gather intelligence concerning "military communications technologies and encryption developments," the unnamed sources said. 

The company didn't respond to U.S. News' request for comment, and China's embassy in Washington denied the claims.