FT: Chinese companies refused to participate in the laying of a submarine cable due to deteriorating relations with the United States

Two large Chinese telecommunications companies China Telecom and China Mobile have canceled their investments in the SEA-ME-WE 6 project, which provides for the laying of an underwater telecommunications cable from China to Western Europe. Writes about it Financial Times with reference to sources. The companies made this decision after the project management preferred the American corporation SubCom to China’s Hengtong Marine for the cable-laying work.

According to experts, the refusal of large Chinese companies to participate in the project reflects tensions between China and the United States, including with regard to control over the global telecommunications infrastructure. About 95% of all intercontinental Internet traffic passes through submarine cables.

Western countries are worried, among other things, by the fact that, under Chinese law, local companies must transfer their data at the request of the authorities. According to Alexandra Seymour, an expert with the Center for a New American Security, China’s desire to own a submarine cable through three state-owned telecommunications companies raises many fears about possible espionage, since in this way the Chinese authorities receive a direct data transmission tool. Since 2020, U.S. authorities have denied approval for several cable-laying projects that were supposed to connect the U.S. to China or that involved Chinese companies.

Yana Rozhdestvenskaya