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CSIS Report Warns of Chinese Threat to Global Subsea Cables

CSIS warns subsea fiber-optic cables are at risk of sabotage by U.S. foreign adversaries.

Jericho Casper

Aug 28, 2024 — 2 min read

Photo of U.S. Navy diver installing steel armor around a seafloor cable in Kauai, Hawaii, taken by U.S. Navy and used with permission.

WASHINGTON, August 28, 2024 – Amid escalating concerns in the U.S. about Chinese technology infiltrating telecommunications networks, subsea cables carrying nearly 98% of global internet traffic have surfaced as the latest potential targets for sabotage, with China and Russia identified as primary threats.

A new report from the Center for Strategic and International Studies has brought attention to the vulnerabilities of subsea cable systems, revealing a “deliberate” pattern of attacks by China. Amazon, Google, Meta, and Microsoft own or lease around half of all undersea bandwidth worldwide.

Since 2018, there have been 27 recorded instances of Chinese vessels disrupting Taiwan’s undersea cables. One such incident in 2023 left 14,000 residents in digital isolation for six weeks.

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china Public Safety Russia CSIS Amazon Google Meta Microsoft Taiwan Digital Silk Road HMN Technologies Huawei Marine Networks SubCom Alcatel Submarine Networks Nippon Electric Company