Clouds Over China: A Challenge to Intelligence Gathering

China takes advantage of persistent cloud cover to mask its movement of military assets and materiel. That’s a problem for Taiwan.

Peering through the clouds is an intelligence analyst’s worst nightmare. China is actively exploiting weather conditions to move military assets and materiel during persistent cloud cover over the Taiwan Strait and China’s coastal areas. Summer months are traditionally the time for the People’s Liberation Army’s (PLA) amphibious exercises, witnessing some of the largest and most complex military exercises across Fujian, Guangdong and Zhejiang. Given prevailing weather conditions, this negatively impacts Taiwan’s ability to monitor and understand PLA training progress, movement of materials, and fundamentally provide early warning to Taiwan’s leadership.

For the full article in the Diplomat Magazine: https://thediplomat.com/2025/08/clouds-over-china-a-challenge-to-intelligence-gathering/