On August 6, Chinese state media broadcast extensive coverage of a new offshore wind turbine, the “Haiyou Anlan” (海油安澜号), that had entered operation (YouTube/CCTV; Xinhua; Global Times; Lianhe Zaobao, August 6). The coverage framed the turbine, which belongs to the state-owned China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC; 中国海洋石油总公司), as another win in Beijing’s push for technological and clean energy breakthroughs. One interview describes it as an important achievement under the 15th Five-Year Plan for key offshore wind turbine construction projects, and part of the Chinese state’s vision of itself as a “maritime power” (海洋强国) and an “energy power” (能源强国) (Fengkou, August 6).

The coverage uniformly neglected to mention one crucial detail: the Haiyou Anlan wind turbine has been installed in Taiwan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ). This is not the first time the People’s Republic of China (PRC) has built permanent structures in Taiwan’s waters. In September 2025, the geospatial intelligence firm ingeniSPACE identified a number of PRC oil and gas structures in Taiwan’s EEZ (China Brief, September 2, 2025). ingeniSPACE has now identified the addition of the wind turbine with the assistance of All Source Analysis.

Chinese use of civilian vessels grow more sophisticated in amphibious warfare exercises.

Just to their right, a line of strange looking ships loom in the mist. The enormous ships are unmoving, raised above the waves by thick pylons. Drop-down bridges connect them to each other, the front one extending down to the sand. Jason Wang, chief executive of Ingenispace, a geospatial analysis company, said the ships were a clear sign of China’s “creativity…They can produce the ships really fast – four to six months – and get them into theatre,” Wang said. “They can also iterate improvements faster than everybody else.”