U.S. Seeks To Ban China’s Undersea Cables Over Espionage Risks

Written by Bruno Teles

Published on 18/07/2025 at 15:16

Governo dos EUA propõe veto a cabos submarinos da China por suspeita de espionagem digital, segundo reportagem

Be the first to react!

In a New Chapter of the Technology War, the US Government Studies Prohibiting the Use of Chinese-Made Submarine Cables in Its Infrastructure, Claiming National Security Risk.

The distrust between the United States and China has reached the depths of the ocean. The US government, through the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), has initiated a movement to prohibit submarine cables manufactured by Chinese companies from being connected to its territory. The justification is that this infrastructure, which is the backbone of the global internet, could be used by Beijing for espionage.

The measure represents a significant escalation in the battle for technological supremacy between the two powers. After banning 5G equipment from Huawei and ZTE, the US is now targeting submarine cables, the invisible infrastructure responsible for transporting 99% of all data traffic on the planet, including what is needed for the advancement of artificial intelligence.

The Backbone of the Internet Under Threat

Submarine cables are the “unsung heroes of global communications,” as defined by Brendan Carr, FCC chairman. They are the physical foundation upon which the digital economy and the era of artificial intelligence are being built. For the United States, ensuring the security of this infrastructure is a matter of sovereignty.

ARTICLE CONTINUES BELOW

The Chinese Ascendancy and American Distrust

Historically, the submarine cable manufacturing market has been dominated by companies from France, Italy, Japan, and the United States itself. However, in recent years, Chinese companies like Hengtong Group and Zhongtian Submarine Cable have been quickly gaining market share, offering cutting-edge technology at competitive prices.

This ascendance is met with great suspicion in Washington. The logic of the US government is the same as that applied in the case of 5G: Chinese technology companies are legally required to cooperate with their country’s intelligence services, which, in the US view, makes them an unacceptable risk to critical infrastructure security.

A New Front in the Technology War

The FCC’s proposal is clear and follows a dual approach:

Encourage the use of American technology or that of allied countries in the installation and maintenance of the cables.
Restrict and discourage the use of Chinese technology in any cable that connects to the United States.

If implemented, this measure will not be the first of its kind. In 2019, Donald Trump’s government had already prohibited the use of telecommunications equipment from Huawei and ZTE in its networks, in one of the tensest chapters of the trade dispute.

Now, the battle descends to the depths of the ocean, in a quiet struggle for control of the most fundamental infrastructure of the 21st century. The FCC’s final decision could reshape the global map of submarine cables and deepen the technological divide between the West and China.

What do you think about this measure? Is the US concern for the security of submarine cables legitimate, or is it a form of protectionism to curb China’s technological advancement? Leave your opinion in the comments.

0 Comments

most recent

older Most voted

U.S. Seeks To Ban China’s Undersea Cables Over Espionage Risks

In a New Chapter of the Technology War, the US Government Studies Prohibiting the Use of Chinese-Made Submarine Cables in Its Infrastructure, Claiming National Security Risk.

The Backbone of the Internet Under Threat

The Chinese Ascendancy and American Distrust

A New Front in the Technology War

Cambodia has started digging a nearly 180-kilometer canal to connect the Mekong River directly to the sea and reduce its dependence on the ports of neighboring Vietnam.

Four times faster than the Concorde, capable of taking passengers from New York to London in less than an hour at Mach 5.5, and with an engine that switches from turbojet to ramjet mid-flight at Mach 3.5, the Hermeus Quarterhorse went from paper to its first flight in just 19 months.

SpaceX will dock a $843 million vehicle to the International Space Station to push a nearly 420-ton laboratory against the atmosphere and make the debris fall in a controlled manner into the ocean.

China opens the world’s first school where more than 100 humanoid robots from different brands will study together, each movement will be repeated up to 600 times a day and the data will feed a collective brain that will teach all the robots of the future.

An Indonesian fisherman pulls a mysterious object from the sea and discovers that it is a Chinese underwater monitoring system, part of the so-called Underwater Great Wall that Beijing uses to track submarines and unmanned vehicles in strategic straits of the region.

The end of Nokia: the brand that was the cellphone of an entire generation has ended its smartphones, left Brazil, and today survives only in basic phones in India while seeking a new partner.

While banks see the risk of default and difficulty in recovering financed motorcycles, the Lula government is considering using a guarantee fund to unlock credit for delivery workers; the measure could reach up to 1.2 million workers linked to digital platforms.

A study proposes transforming the Moon into a kind of quarantine center for samples brought from Mars and other worlds, creating a sterile and isolated barrier that would filter any unknown organisms before the material reaches Earth and its ecosystems.

A street cleaner who earns R$ 2,100 per month put her cell phone aside for a few minutes and returned to find a Pix transfer of R$ 203,000 mistakenly deposited into her account, an amount that, according to her, she wouldn’t be able to save even if she worked for a hundred years.

Pharmacy giant is fined R$ 10 million by the Maranhão Court for requiring CPF to grant discounts, pressuring consumers at the checkout, and raising a national alert about the collection of personal data in pharmaceutical retail.

Wax notebook falls into latrine 800 years ago, survives intact in Germany and reveals Latin notes that may expose the routine of a high-status medieval merchant.

U.S. Seeks To Ban China’s Undersea Cables Over Espionage Risks

In a New Chapter of the Technology War, the US Government Studies Prohibiting the Use of Chinese-Made Submarine Cables in Its Infrastructure, Claiming National Security Risk.

The Backbone of the Internet Under Threat

The Chinese Ascendancy and American Distrust

A New Front in the Technology War

Cambodia has started digging a nearly 180-kilometer canal to connect the Mekong River directly to the sea and reduce its dependence on the ports of neighboring Vietnam.

Four times faster than the Concorde, capable of taking passengers from New York to London in less than an hour at Mach 5.5, and with an engine that switches from turbojet to ramjet mid-flight at Mach 3.5, the Hermeus Quarterhorse went from paper to its first flight in just 19 months.

SpaceX will dock a $843 million vehicle to the International Space Station to push a nearly 420-ton laboratory against the atmosphere and make the debris fall in a controlled manner into the ocean.

China opens the world’s first school where more than 100 humanoid robots from different brands will study together, each movement will be repeated up to 600 times a day and the data will feed a collective brain that will teach all the robots of the future.

An Indonesian fisherman pulls a mysterious object from the sea and discovers that it is a Chinese underwater monitoring system, part of the so-called Underwater Great Wall that Beijing uses to track submarines and unmanned vehicles in strategic straits of the region.

The end of Nokia: the brand that was the cellphone of an entire generation has ended its smartphones, left Brazil, and today survives only in basic phones in India while seeking a new partner.

Brazil’s almost forgotten neighbor found oil at sea, attracted ExxonMobil and Chevron, became a billion-dollar bet in global energy, and now tries to answer if quick wealth also turns into real development.

The domino effect of US sanctions reaches cards in Cuba, bringing down Visa and Mastercard and exposing a new obstacle for the island’s economy.

US proposes extra tariff on Brazil for “forced labor” and raises alert about new commercial pressure against Brazilian exports

AI video released by the Iranian embassy shows Christ the Redeemer toppling the Statue of Liberty after a 25% tariff threat to Brazil, turning landmarks into symbols of a new political battle between Brasília and Washington.

China changes social strategy for 2026 and starts acting before poverty affects millions of families in an unprecedented transformation

While banks see the risk of default and difficulty in recovering financed motorcycles, the Lula government is considering using a guarantee fund to unlock credit for delivery workers; the measure could reach up to 1.2 million workers linked to digital platforms.

A study proposes transforming the Moon into a kind of quarantine center for samples brought from Mars and other worlds, creating a sterile and isolated barrier that would filter any unknown organisms before the material reaches Earth and its ecosystems.

A street cleaner who earns R$ 2,100 per month put her cell phone aside for a few minutes and returned to find a Pix transfer of R$ 203,000 mistakenly deposited into her account, an amount that, according to her, she wouldn’t be able to save even if she worked for a hundred years.

Pharmacy giant is fined R$ 10 million by the Maranhão Court for requiring CPF to grant discounts, pressuring consumers at the checkout, and raising a national alert about the collection of personal data in pharmaceutical retail.

Wax notebook falls into latrine 800 years ago, survives intact in Germany and reveals Latin notes that may expose the routine of a high-status medieval merchant.