China warns: Data leaks from wind turbines could endanger national security

A resident of a coastal city reported to national security authorities that a company had illegally built a wind tower near a sensitive location, and the resident suspected that the tower could be used to collect sensitive data, the report said.

The ministry has investigated and found that the wind tower can analyze and send data, CCTV said, adding: “If this data leaks abroad, it could pose a threat to national security.”

The authorities succeeded in preventing the data from being passed on abroad, the report says.

The report did not provide details about the identity of the resident, the location of the wind tower, which coastal town it was in, who operated the tower or whether there were any criminal consequences resulting from the case.

In another vaguely described case, a wind measuring tower near a scientific research base came under suspicion over fears that it might have illegally collected data and transmitted it abroad, the report said.

The report said an investigation found the tower was not properly registered and that its data transmission methods were “complex and posed significant security risks.” The tower was later demolished, CCTV said.

National security is China's highest priority. The leadership of the Communist Party of China also underlined this priority at the Third Plenum, which takes place every two decades, in July.

Moreover, this development comes against the backdrop of intensifying strategic competition between China and the US-led West in all areas, including technology and trade.

Last year, Beijing passed a new counter-espionage law that expanded both the definition of espionage and the investigative powers of national security agencies.

In 2022, the China Meteorological Administration, the Ministry of State Security and the National Administration for the Protection of State Secrets revised a regulation on “foreign-related” meteorological discoveries and data, which sets out conditions that can lead to criminal charges.

According to the regulation, no weather stations with foreign connections may be set up in sensitive areas and no weather data may be passed on to foreign authorities without permission.