US Tightens Grip on Chinese Tech in Undersea Internet Cable Showdown

The US government just escalated its tech cold war—and this time, the battlefield is beneath the waves.

Subsea Sabotage? Washington takes aim at China's undersea cable dominance as tensions over internet infrastructure reach boiling point. No shots fired—just fiber-optic trenches being drawn.

Geopolitical Bandwidth: Control these submerged data highways, and you control global communications. China's been laying cable like it's printing yuan—now America's cutting the wires.

Bonus cynicism: Wall Street analysts predict 'infrastructure plays' will trend... right after they dump their underwater cable ETF bags.

Washington ramps up cable security

The United States has had long-standing concerns about China’s participation in global telecommunications. Subsea internet cables, in particular, are notoriously fragile. Most are rarely seen, but they are vital. They carry emails, financial information, military communications, and even the vast majority of same-day data that fuels video calls and streaming.

There are more than 400 such cables around the world. A single hack or intrusion could have outsize effects.

US regulators have already assisted in canceling at least four major cable projects since 2020 that would have linked the United States to Hong Kong. Security officials warned that China could exploit these connections for spying or sabotage.

Last year, the Commission started re-examining its rules concerning undersea cables. It suggested that the existing rules were weak. In light of this, the Commission is seeking public comment on its plan to increase the scope of its oversight.

The new rules will also consider more protections. These could range from stronger licensing regimes, more government oversight, to mandatory security audits.

Saboteurs target undersea cables

In 2023, Taiwan blamed Chinese vessels for deliberately severing two cables that linked the isolated Matsu Islands. The weeks-long cutoff left thousands without internet and raised fears of digital blockading.

Three important undersea cables linking Europe to Asia were severed in the Red Sea in 2024. American and European intelligence officials have said the strike was most likely launched by or on behalf of Iran, as payback for a Saudi military offensive that has revived the moribund war in Yemen against the Houthis.

Two cable disruptions in the Baltic Sea last year caught the attention of NATO members, prompting security concerns. While the full findings were not made public, officials indicated that sabotage was one of the main suspected causes.

These episodes are a reminder that cables are no longer passive infrastructure. Now they’re being used as pawns in geopolitical contests. As threats escalate, so do calls for stronger protections.

The concern is that if an adversary nation controlled a cable landing station or financed university researchers, it could eavesdrop on, or even cut, the data traffic that flows along American and global undersea cables without leaving a trace.

The FCC’s announcement is part of a broader effort by the United States to “de-risk” technology supply chains from Chinese control.

Washington has already worked to ban Chinese telecom companies from its domestic networks. It had barred Huawei and ZTE from supplying 5G equipment and pressured allies to do likewise.

But China has condemned that approach. Its foreign ministry has denounced them as “unreasonable suppression of Chinese enterprises” and accused the US of politicizing technology.

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