Many illegal weather data sites found

Chinese authorities have discovered hundreds of illegal foreign-affiliated meteorological detection sites transmitting weather data to other countries in real-time during an ongoing nationwide special operation, according to an official post.

The Ministry of State Security published the post on its WeChat account on Tuesday, saying that these illegal sites were found in more than 20 provincial regions across the country, posing risks to national security.

Since the beginning of the year, three central government bodies — the Ministry of State Security, the China Meteorological Administration and the National Administration of State Secrets Protection — have carried out a nationwide operation to inspect the management of foreign-affiliated meteorological detection sites in accordance with the law.

They have inspected more than 3,000 foreign-affiliated meteorological sites, including the hundreds that were found to be illegal, and investigated more than 10 overseas meteorological equipment agents.

The post said that some of the illegal sites are funded directly by foreign governments and some of the observation points are located near sensitive areas, such as sites related to China's military units and national defense enterprises. Other illegal sites are located in the nation's major grain-producing regions, and their data analysis is related to crop and grain yield.

Some of the sites even transmit data in real-time to official meteorological agencies in other countries to serve their national security and weather monitoring needs, the post said. The equipment found at these sites are compact, easy to install and difficult to detect, and they have the ability to automatically collect and transmit data over the internet in real-time.

The Ministry of State Security said these sites have neither been granted administrative permits by China's meteorological authorities, nor have they submitted weather data to Chinese authorities.

They have transmitted data to foreign countries without approval from the meteorological department, violating the regulations on foreign-affiliated meteorological detection and data management, as well as the Data Security Law.

China's top legislature approved the law in June 2021 to regulate data processing activities, ensure data security, promote data development and utilization, protect the legitimate rights and interests of individuals and organizations, and safeguard national sovereignty, security and development interests.

The law, which came into force on Sept 1, 2021, stipulates that data processing activities — including data collection, storage, use, transmission, provision and disclosure — carried out within China are subject to the law.

To safeguard meteorological data security, the China Meteorological Administration, the Ministry of State Security and the National Administration of State Secrets Protection also jointly issued regulations on foreign-affiliated meteorological detection and data management in 2022.

These regulations require foreign entities wishing to establish meteorological detection sites in China to apply for and acquire administrative permits.

In addition, these sites cannot be established at national defense and military sites, areas that are not yet open to other nations, places where key engineering construction is underway and areas involving national security.

The Ministry of State Security warned that meteorological data includes information about satellites and radar systems. Such data is also related to national security, food security and ecological security, among others.

Illegally collecting and transmitting meteorological data across borders endangers China's sovereignty, security and development interests, the ministry said. It also reminded citizens or organizations engaged in meteorological detection to protect their data, and not collect or transmit data that affects national security and interests.