The Chinese Navy's Honzehu destroyer at Pearl Harbor in 2006. US Navy photo.

As President Obama tours northwest Alaska, five Chinese navy ships have been spotted in the Bering Sea off southwest Alaska.

Three of China’s surface-warfare ships, a resupply vessel and a landing craft were seen in international waters off the Aleutian Islands, according to Pentagon officials.

“This is the first time we’ve observed People’s Liberation Army navy ships in the Bering Sea,” Commander Bill Urban, spokesperson for Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter, said. “We do respect the freedom of all nations to operate military vessels in international waters in accordance with international law. So, no reason why they shouldn’t be there.”

Urban declined to say how long the U.S. military has been tracking the ships or just where they were located in the Bering Sea.

International waters start 12 nautical miles offshore.

Political scientist Scott Harold at the Rand Corporation think-tank in Arlington, Virginia, said China wants to show it can project military power farther and farther from its own shores.

“Additionally, China has a fairly strong interest in the Arctic and is interested in making clear China has interests at stake there and wants to be considered a stakeholder.”

For several years, Chinese officials have referred to China as a "near-Arctic nation." 

In late August, China and Russia held their biggest joint naval exercise to date in the Sea of Japan. State-sponsored media in Russia say 22 ships and 20 aircraft took part in that exercise.

An unnamed U.S. official told the Associated Press the Chinese ships moved into the Bering Sea near Alaska after joining in a naval exercise with Russia.

Scott Harold said if any ships participating in that exercise steamed toward the Bering Sea afterward, they’d be near the Aleutian islands right about now.

To any Aleutian fishing boats: If you’re out fishing and you happen to see any of the Chinese navy ships, take a picture or video and send it to news@kucb.org or Tweet it at @KUCBNews.