18/03/2023
On March 14th, the Financial Times (FT) reported that China had been imposing new measures to exert influence on underwater cables in the South China Sea, such as delaying the approval process or introducing stricter permit requirements of new cable projects.
The “victims” include projects connecting Japan – Singapore and Taiwan - Hong Kong, parts of which located outside China's recognized territorial waters (12 nautical mile areas), which is contrary to the provisions of UNCLOS 1982.
Observers have taken notice of this tendency. Some consider that China fears the possibility of contractors placing spying devices around its territory. Meanwhile, Bryan Clark - a former US Navy official - claims that China aims to use its underwater cable system to map the seabed. Others, such as Professor James Kraska (US Naval War College), argue that China wants its underwater cable system to serve communication purposes between its military bases and to monitor other countries’ vessels in the region.
Although FT’s info has not been verified, and the explanations on the matter are only based on personal perspectives, it still can be seen that underwater cables could potentially become a tool for great powers competition or to implement “grey zone” tactics in the South China Sea and neighboring regions, indicated by the followings:
The post was originally published here.
Translated by Nguyen Tien Dat
Revised by HD, Viet Ha
In the past few years, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) has been expanding its activities in the South China Sea in particular and the Indo-Pacific in general.
On July 5, a week before hosting the 2023 NATO Summit, Lithuania released its own Indo-Pacific Strategy, becoming the 6th European country to devise such document (after France, Germany, the Netherlands, the UK, and the Czech Republic, if not including the EU). A few observations could be made from a...
On the 7th anniversary of the final ruling rendered by the Arbitral Tribunal in the arbitration between the Philippines and China concerning the South China Sea (July 12, 2016 - July 12, 2023), some countries, including claimants and non-claimants, issued statements expressing their positions regarding...
On 28 April, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) issued its final Judgment on the dispute concerning the delimitation of the maritime boundary between Mauritius and the Maldives in the Indian Ocean, finally ending the dispute that had lasted for over three years. Both Mauritius...
Chinese Defense Minister Li Shangfu officially visited Russia from April 15th to April 17th, 2023. The visit was closely monitored by the West due to their belief that the increasingly closer relationship between China and Russia, both politically and militarily, may result in China’s decision to provide...