As rise of AI drives spike in cross-border data demand, infrastructure control becomes critical to digital sovereignty and national security
tech rivalryhas escalated into a deeper battle over undersea fibre-optic cables powering the global AI boom.
As demand for cross-border data to power and train advanced systems intensifies, so does the high-stakes battle to control critical network ecosystems – mainly submarine cables that send nearly 99 per cent of intercontinental data traffic at immense speed.
Beijing on Tuesday accused Washington of “politicising” global undersea cable networks, following reports that the US planned to spend US$175.8 million to replace ageing lines in the Caribbean and Central America to block Chinese involvement.
The US move risked threatening the broader digital economy, the Chinese foreign ministry cautioned.
“Politicising and overstretching security concerns on the issue of undersea cables will only disrupt normal rules of the international market, threaten global data connectivity and cybersecurity, and serve the interests of no one,” ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Tuesday.
He also underlined China’s multilateral approach, saying: “[China supports] international cooperation on submarine cables under the principles of fairness, justice, equality and inclusiveness.”