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A US-China ‘war’ is on over a worldwide web of undersea cables
As conduits of the world’s data, these fibre-optic lines are considered valuable security and strategic assets.
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Facing US opposition, China has suffered several recent defeats in the undersea cable war.
PHOTO: AFP
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Thousands of metres under the sea, the United States and China are fighting a quiet “war”. The weapons are not submarines but networks of fibre-optic cables running along the sea floor that make the global Internet work.
These cables are conduits for the world’s data, which makes them valuable strategic and security assets. Currently, the US is ahead in the contest to control these assets. The global reliance on undersea cables, however, creates new openings for the People’s Republic of China (PRC) to employ grey-zone tactics in its pursuit of a regional sphere of influence.
