As the U.S.–China rivalry extends from land and space to underwater, there are increasing signs that the United States and its allies are stepping up efforts to curb the expansion of the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) subsea cable projects.
Subsea cables, also known as submarine communications cables, are laid on the sea bed between land-based stations to carry telecommunication signals across stretches of ocean and sea.
Subsea cables carry 97 percent to 98 percent of the intercontinental data traffic, according to Tzeng Yisuo, associate research fellow of the Cyber Security and Decision-Making Simulation division at Taiwan’s Institute for National Defense and Security Research. …