-
China is accused of supporting private investment in Pacific underwater cable projects to spy on other nations, Newsweek reported.
-
A Reuters investigation found that US government officials warned Pacific island nations against awarding underwater cable contracts to Chinese state-linked companies.
-
These contracts are related to the Kiribati Connectivity Project (KCP), which was designed to improve communications to the island nations of Nauru, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) Kiribati.
-
In response to the accusation, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry told Reuters that the United States is trying to shatter Chinese companies.
-
Go to the Business Insider homepage for more stories.
China is backing private investment in Pacific underwater cable projects to spy on and steal data from other nations, according to reports.
Newsweek reported a spokesman for the Taiwanese Foreign Ministry, who claimed on Friday that China intends to “monopolize” Pacific communications networks to steal valuable data from its rivals.
The report comes a day after a Reuters investigation found that US government officials had warned Pacific island nations against awarding underwater cable contracts to Chinese state-linked companies.
These contracts are related to the Kiribati Connectivity Project (KCP), which was designed in 2017 to improve communications to the island nations of Nauru, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and Kiribati.
Among the bidders were NEC from Japan, Nokia from Finland, Alcatel Submarine Networks (ASN), based in France, and Huawei Marine, which was recently sold by Huawei Technologies Co Ltd and is now majority owned by another Chinese company. .
According to the Reuters report, Washington officials say Chinese-backed companies are undercutting their international competitors to gain access to cable contracts in the region to expand their influence.
As part of the project, the cables will be connected to a network called HNATRU-1, which serves Guam – a US Pacific territory strategically located close to China, North Korea and the rest of East Asia. It is the headquarters of the Command of the Expeditionary Forces of the 7th Pacific Fleet.
The $ 72.6 million project is supported by the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank.
In response to the accusation, a spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry told Reuters that the United States is trying to shatter Chinese companies.
Reports come months after Google and Facebook withdrew plans to connect LA and Hong Kong with an 8,000-mile broadband cable to increase the speed and capacity of the Internet.
The decision came after a US Justice Department committee formally recommended that the Hong Kong part of the network be focused on national security reasons in July.
It was the first time such a cable had been rejected for national security reasons and was a sign of growing tension between the US and China.
Entire countries could be taken offline
There are over 350 submarine cables worldwide, spanning more than 1.2 million kilometers (745,645 miles) and carrying telecommunications signals.
Most of the lines are owned by private telecommunications companies, including technology giants such as Google and Microsoft. Their locations, built over the decades, can be easily identified on public maps.
Despite their importance, little is being done to protect and safeguard these deep cables.
Cybersecurity experts previously told Insider in 2018 that it was only “a matter of time” before hackers could access the cables and threaten to take entire countries offline.
Read the original Business Insider article