Cable security hype reveals Canberra’s anxiety

Summary

A report funded by Australia's Defence Department has exaggerated the risk of deliberate damage to submarine cables, linking Chinese research vessel activity to the Taiwan issue and calling for enhanced seabed surveillance and anti-submarine capabilities. Chen Hong, director and professor of the Australian Studies Centre at East China Normal University,

said Canberra had produced no evidence of Chinese sabotage, and that the hype over the 'China threat' was aimed at justifying military expansion under AUKUS and increased defence spending, as well as internationalising the Taiwan issue and excluding Chinese companies. The article argued that Australia's real need is to improve cable maintenance capacity rather than politicising infrastructure.

Commentary

Submarine cables carry about 95 percent of global international data traffic. Australia's politicisation of cable security could accelerate the grouping of regional supply chains. For New Zealand SMEs, this means two considerations.

On one hand, they need to be alert to increased compliance scrutiny when working with Chinese suppliers, to avoid being excluded from 'trusted supply chains'. On the other hand, they can watch for derived demand such as cable maintenance and alternative routes in Pacific island countries. Moreover, Australia's lack of evidence of Chinese sabotage, yet its push for seabed surveillance, will increase uncertainty for regional digital infrastructure projects.

SMEs bidding for such projects should factor geopolitical risk into their pricing.

Keywords: submarine cable security, Australia, China threat, AUKUS, Taiwan issue, defence department report, Chen Hong, geopolitics, infrastructure security

Source: Global Times