China says foreign-funded NGO’s coastal ocean data could be used for spying

Top law enforcement agency says sensitive data collected posed potential security threat and helped foreign entities ‘smear’ China

As many as 22 of the NGO’s monitoring sites were close to China’s military facilities, according to the PLA Navy

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Volunteers bypass fences to carry out monitoring activities near a military facility in Shanghai. Photo: Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission

Published: 8:08pm, 2 Nov 2021Updated: 10:44pm, 2 Nov 2021

China has accused a foreign-funded environmental NGO of collecting oceanic data in sensitive waters, including in the East and South China seas, which could be used for spying.

Details of the case were made public by Chinese authorities for the first time on Monday, which marked the seventh anniversary of the introduction of national counter-espionage legislation.

The Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, China’s top law enforcement agency, did not name the NGO in a lengthy related post on its official social media account.

Cover of the report published by the NGO that allegedly collected sensitive data. Photo: Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission

However, it said the organisation, in the name of marine conservation, had regularly published research papers based on data collected by volunteers and through monitoring sites along the entire length of the Chinese coastline, covering the South and East China seas as well as the northern Yellow and Bohai seas.

And, in a revelation that sounded the alarm among Chinese security organs, the report said 22 of the NGO’s monitoring sites were close to China’s military facilities, citing an assessment by the PLA Navy.

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