The escalating US-China rivalry has now extended beneath the sea, as undersea cables carry vast amounts of data transmission. In order to prevent the Chinese Communist Party from stealing data, efforts are underway to “de-Chinaize” undersea cables. US officials have privately issued unusual warnings to telecommunications companies, indicating that undersea cable data carrying internet traffic across the Pacific Ocean may be vulnerable to espionage by Chinese repair ships.
An exclusive report by The Wall Street Journal on May 19 revealed that US State Department officials have suggested that a Chinese state-owned company involved in repairing international cables, S.B. Submarine Systems (SBSS), appears to be hiding ship locations from radio and satellite tracking services. US officials have expressed concerns, acknowledging the complexity of the situation.
These warnings highlight an overlooked security risk of undersea fiber optic cables: tech giants like Google and Meta Platforms own partial stakes in many cables and are investing in more. However, they rely on professional construction and maintenance companies, some of which are foreign-owned. US officials are worried that these companies may jeopardize the security of commercial and military data.
Undersea cables are the backbone of the internet, carrying 99% of global data traffic. According to TeleGeography, approximately 140,000 kilometers of undersea cables will be laid globally in 2024, three times the amount from five years ago.
The US and other countries have been restricting Chinese involvement in the undersea cable industry. Over the past four years, at least six private undersea cable projects have been blocked, either by the US government preventing deals with Huawei Marine (a Chinese company), or by denying approvals for cable connections between the US and mainland China or Hong Kong.
The US government’s focus on Chinese repair ships is part of its response to Beijing’s expanding maritime activities in the western Pacific. Officials state that Beijing has taken measures over the past decades to counter US military presence in the Pacific, aiming to impede Pentagon communications and other technological advantages in case of conflicts in Taiwan or other hotspot areas.
An anonymous source informed The Wall Street Journal that US officials have expressed concerns to companies like Google and Meta regarding potential threats to US cable security posed by Chinese firms. The source revealed that senior Biden administration officials have been briefed on the potential risks associated with Chinese companies participating in undersea cable maintenance.
S.B. Submarine Systems is a joint investment by China Telecommunications Group (51% ownership) and Global Marine Group from the UK (49% ownership). According to The Wall Street Journal’s data analysis, ships named “Fu Hai”, “Fu Tai”, and “Bold Maverick” disappear from satellite ship tracking services while operating in regions around Taiwan, Indonesia, and other coastal areas in Asia, sometimes remaining untraceable for days. Officials and industry experts consider this data gap unusual for commercial cable ships and lack a clear explanation.
The White House National Security Council stated in a release that the security of undersea cables relies on trusted entities constructing, maintaining, and repairing them transparently and securely, highlighting satellite ship tracking as a supportive measure for vessel monitoring and safety protocols.
US officials and Congress have refrained from disclosing whether their concerns stem from classified intelligence on maritime espionage activities or potential threats to internet infrastructure. However, they point out that when Chinese ships are at sea, commercial satellite tracking data often reveals significant gaps.
Another source familiar with the Chinese company stated to The Wall Street Journal that the data gaps in ship positions may be due to irregular satellite coverage rather than an attempt to conceal locations. The source added that cable owners typically have representatives onboard repair ships, making it difficult to hide any potential interference with cable equipment.
The US government declined to comment on SBSS to The Wall Street Journal. Both Google and Meta refused to provide comments on the Biden administration’s concerns regarding SBSS. SBSS did not respond to requests for comment.
With the increasing demand for network bandwidth capacity driven by streaming services, cloud computing, and 5G technology, undersea cables are growing at a rate of about 30% annually. In Asia alone, TeleGeography estimates that between 2023 and 2025, undersea projects are valued at $2.59 billion, six times higher than that of 2000.
From 2021 to 2025, international undersea cable projects involving US tech giants covered a total length of 220,000 kilometers, accounting for 48% of new global projects during that period, representing a 15% increase from the previous period.
Deputy researcher at the Institute for National Defense and Security Studies, Taiwan, Zeng Yishuo, told Epoch Times that undersea cables carry 97% to 98% of global information exchange and how to prevent interception or eavesdropping on cable information once it lands on land has been a topic of concern for countries since the Cold War.
Deputy Secretary-General of the Taiwan International Law Association, Lin Tinghui, pointed out that there is a possibility of content theft in undersea cable transmissions. If the undersea cables are built by Beijing, there is a potential risk of copies being sent to Beijing through filters. While the US excludes Chinese companies from building undersea cables under the “decoupling from China” concept, China is also attempting to dominate the construction of its own undersea cables, resulting in a clear divide between the two sides.
[Contributed by reporter Lin Chenxin, Epoch Times]