The exposure of the U.S. PRISM surveillance program has thrust U.S. intelligence operations into the global spotlight and according to a report aired on China Central Television, it is believed that over the past decades, the U.S. has kept China under full surveillance through a network supported by its global spy satellites, survey aircraft, survey vessels and monitoring stations.

Edward Snowden, the 29-year-old whistle-blower went public in a video interview with the Guardian after he leaked information on the National Security Agency's secret phone and Internet surveillance programs. [File photo: Chinanews.com]

The White House National Security Council (NSC), chaired by President Obama, oversees all U.S. intelligence operations and it has prioritized intelligence gathering on China since its founding in 1952. This is illustrated by the fact that despite its current tally of 200,000 agents, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is posting job advertisements in newspapers distributed in Chinese communities in the U.S., which aim to recruit Chinese-Americans with promised salaries as high as US$90,000.

U.S. spying programs have long focused on the oceans surrounding China. In the Yellow Sea, the U.S. is eager to learn about such geographical information as the underwater landscape and marine gravity, and the marine routes of China's nuclear-powered submarines. In the East China Sea and South China Sea, the U.S. is engaged in attempts to track the East China Sea Fleet and South China Sea Fleet of the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).

In June 2001, the U.S. Navy's survey vessel Bowditch was confronted by a Chinese frigate after it was discovered collecting data in China's territorial water in the Yellow Sea. Despite this incident, Bowditch reentered the area in 2002 to continue its data collecting mission, despite repeated warnings from Chinese military aircraft and vessels. Bowditch was eventually struck accidentally by a Chinese fishing vessel which was operating nearby.