International Publications 

Submarine Cables in the South China Sea: Across-Domain & Across-Level Vulnerabilities

Vietnam is currently connected to five active international submarine cables, all crossing the South China Sea. This system is a part of Vietnam’s maritime connectivity network, utterly important to Vietnam’s national interests. However, it is highly vulnerable to multiple risks, spanning across strategic, legal and technical domains, many of which can fall within the “gray-zone” realm. Using the multiple-level analysis framework in international relations, this writing provides an overview of these multi-domained risks, incorporating recent developments in the cable landscape and the South China Sea, ending with Vietnam’s lines of efforts to mitigate them, with international cooperation being a key component.