China's Hailong Buoys: Floating Data Centers in Disputed Waters (xataka.com)

• China's Hailong buoys are 6m wide disc-shaped platforms with side-anchoring for stable long-term operation.
• They replace older NOMAD-style buoys and are part of a strategy to assert presence in the Yellow Sea.
• The 2001 fishing agreement prohibits permanent structures; China has deployed 13 buoys, aquaculture cages, and a maintenance platform.
• CSIS analysts label this 'progressive sovereignty' — incremental permanent infrastructure in disputed areas.
• The buoys have solar panels, AI data management, and withstand 60m/s winds and 20m waves.

"China has deployed a new generation of large disc-shaped buoys (Hailong series) in the Yellow Sea, designed as floating data stations with side-anchoring to prevent cable twisting. These buoys, developed by the Chinese Academy of Sciences over a decade, replace a 16-year-old buoy and provide continuous real-time monitoring. The deployment skirts a 2001 China-South Korea fishing agreement that bans permanent installations. Analysts call it 'progressive sovereignty.' While officially for climate and tsunami monitoring, the dual-use technology can also serve military surveillance, raising tensions in the disputed waters."