Thayer Undersea Cables and Great Power Rivalry

Thayer Consultancy Background Brief
ABN # 65 648 097 123

carl@thayerconsultancy.com.au Undersea Cables and Great
Power Rivalry
October 16, 2024
According to The New York Times, the world's internet information is mainly
transmitted through undersea cables, currently 750,000 miles long. The first cable was
laid in 2019 connecting the Unite4d States with the United Kingdom. Companies such
as Google, Amazon, Facebook, Microsoft also built their own lines to connect
countries around the world. For example, Google plans to have its own line connecting
13 of centres around the world. In the Asian region there are also many countries with
submarine cables connecting their stations.
We are interested in your assessment of the US push to steer Vietnam's subsea cable
plans away from China.
Q1. Is there currently an global cable system based on international standards and
international supervision?
ANSWER: While the undersea fibre-optic cable system connects states globally, there
is no convention setting international standards or supervision. Only 36 of 193 states
have acceded to the International Convention for the Protection of Submarine
Telegraphic Cables [Paris Convention) of 1884 that came into force 1888. State parties
to the Paris Convention are obligated to protect submarine cables.
The Paris Convention covers cables on the bed of high seas and declares that it is “a
punishable offense to break or injure a submarine cable wilfully or by culpable
negligence.” A coastal state may apply its domestic law to prosecute the transgressor.
Subsequent to the Paris Convention, three other conventions were adopted: the
Geneva Convention on the High Seas (CHS, 1958), the Geneva Convention on the
Continental Shelf (CCS, 1958) and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the
Sea (UNCLOS, 1982). All three incorporated provisions from the Paris Convention.
The objective of the CHS is “to codify the rules of international law relating to the high
seas.” The CHS affirmed the right of all states to lay underseas telegraph, telephonic
and high voltage cables on the bed of high seas. A coastal state was given the right to
take reasonable measures to explore and develop natural resources on its continental
shelf but not impede the laying and maintenance of cables on its continental shelf by
another state. The CCS incorporated these same provisions.
2
UNCLOS incorporated the provisions of the CHS and CCS on protecting undersea
cables but does not include any provisions for civil liability for cable breakage and
boarding of vessels at sea suspected of wilful or negligent damage to cables.
In May 2023, the Group of 7 endorsed Japan’s proposed Data Free Flow with Trust
initiative by agreeing to the Institutional Arrangement for Partnership. Under this
Arrangement Group of 7 members endorsed the free flow of data, the protection of
intellectual property, national security, and individual privacy. The Group of 7
Institutional Arrangement for Partnership does not include Russia or China.
Q2. What is the current status of cables in the world; are they built in fragmented
lines?
ANSWER: There are currently about six hundred planned and active cables across the
globe spanning 1.4 million kilometres of submarine cables. The first cable was laid in
1858. Undersea cables currently have a life span of twenty-five years but they are
regularly upgraded to incorporate new technology.
The global undersea cable system is based on commercial viability and density of
traffic.
The international undersea cable system is run by a combination of telcom carriers
and entrepreneurial companies who have formed a consortium of enterprises that set
the technical standards of fibre-optic undersea cables. The key entrepreneurial
companies include Google, Meta, Microsoft and Amazon.
International law does not regulate international cable standards and systems in the
high seas. International law, including UNCLOS, does permit state-flagged vessels to
lay cables on the continental shelf and floor of the Exclusive Economic Zone of coastal
state while giving due regard to the interests of the coastal state. A coastal state has
the right to determine the course of the cable in order to protect its own resources.
Q3.. Cable construction contractors are capable of collecting large amounts of data
and even confidential data transmitted through the cable. How will this affect
Vietnam’s national security in the long term if it contracts a Chinese company?
ANSWER: Vietnam’s national security will be affected in three ways.
First, China will have the ability to threaten to disrupt or actually disrupt cable traffic
during a dispute. For example, in 2023, Taiwan alleged that mainland China was
responsible for several incidents of severing Taiwan’s cables in the East China Sea.
Second, China will have the capacity to eavesdrop on cable traffic and gather sensitive
commercial, national security, and military information. This includes discrete
intelligence gathering that focuses on high priority national security targets. It also
includes Big Data that will enable Chinese analysts to track normal and changing
patterns of behaviour of anyone accessing the internet including specific individuals,
groups, academic and scientific researchers, companies, police, border guards and
military units.
Third, Vietnam could find itself dependent on Chinese technology if the United States
prohibits the use of U.S. designed and manufactured technology from being coupled
with Chinese undersea cable systems.
3
Q4. In the context that the world does not yet have an international cable system
based on international standards and with supervision, how should Vietnam build
subsea cables?
ANSWER: Under international law, Vietnam has the sovereign right to control
undersea cables that pass through its territorial sea and connect with the land.
Vietnam also has the right to control where undersea cables are laid in its Exclusive
Economic Zone (EEZ) and continental shelf.
Vietnam does not have the capacity to lay undersea fibre-optic cables. Therefore,
Vietnam must contract foreign companies to carry out this work.
International law provide provisions for Vietnam to apply its domestic laws to state
and state-flagged actors that accidentally or wilfully damage or disrupt undersea cable
traffic in Vietnam’s EEZ and continental shelf.
Vietnam’s best option to ensure national security would to contract a company from
one of the Group of 7 members, such as the United States, Japan or France. The Group
of 7 has set the standards and are more likely to adhere to them than China. Unlike
China, they do not have a national laws requiring companies to cooperate with state
intelligence agencies
Q5. How should the world move towards international supervision and standards for
submarine cable systems instead of letting this system become a competitive
battlefield for big countries with the capacity to build and control them?
ANSWER: Global submarine cable networks should be regulated by an international
institution in the same manner as international civil aviation and international
maritime traffic. The United Nations and its International Telecommunications Union
are the obvious organisations to assume prime responsibility for setting international
standards and supervision for the global network of undersea fibre-optic cables.
Suggested citation: Carlyle A. Thayer, “Undersea Cables and Great Power Rivalry,”
Thayer Consultancy Background Brief, October 16, 2024. All background briefs are
posted on Scribd.com (search for Thayer).
Thayer Consultancy provides political analysis of current regional security issues and
other research support to selected clients. Thayer Consultancy was officially
registered as a small business in Australia in 2002.
Contact: carl@thayerconsultancy.com.au

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Thayer Consultancy Background Brief

ABN # 65 648 097 123

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