Submarine cables are changing the strategic map of the Indo-Pacific region.
The Nezavisimaya Gazeta website published an article by Ruslan Polonchuk, a senior researcher at the Center for the Study of Contemporary History of China and its Relations with Russia, about underwater communications, which is becoming a new area of great power rivalry. Underwater infrastructure carries more than 99% of international Internet traffic. At the same time, the cables are very vulnerable to various types of tampering.
Communication networks are being actively expanded in the Indo-Pacific region. Beijing is developing cable routes between Hong Kong, Hainan and Southeast Asian countries, while Amazon Web Services and Microsoft are promoting projects together with corporations in Japan and South Korea. New lines are also laid towards Australia and the Pacific Islands.
Cable laying decisions thus become politically charged. For Russia, what is happening is important mainly as an indicator of the change in the strategic situation in Asia. Undersea communication is becoming another element of competition between China and the US. Chinese initiatives are strengthening Beijing's ties with regional partners, while American technology companies are helping to build infrastructure linking Washington's allies.
Read more in the material on the Asian Analytics Portal.