Australia, UK and U.S. deepen subsea cable security push in Indo-Pacific tech rivalry

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Australia, UK, U.S. push cable security

Highlights

Australia, UK, and U.S. plan to deploy underwater drone technology to protect Indo-Pacific subsea cables by 2027 amid increased strategic scrutiny.
Google’s TalayLink and $700 million Asia Connect Cable System are rerouting cable projects to bypass the South China Sea and Strait of Malacca, reducing exposure to China despite higher costs.
Washington is pressuring Southeast Asian and Pacific nations to select American, Japanese, or European suppliers over Chinese vendors, increasing geopolitical competition in subsea cable infrastructure and related data centers.

New cable routes and security plans take shape

As reported by Bloomberg, citing BusinessWorld Online, Australia, the UK and the U.S. are developing underwater drone technology to help protect subsea cables by 2027, while Singapore has launched a 17-country framework spanning Southeast Asia, Europe, the Middle East and Oceania to explore critical infrastructure defense cooperation.

The strategic push comes as the Strait of Malacca, one of the Indo-Pacific’s most important maritime chokepoints, faces rising scrutiny because of the concentration of cables running through the corridor. Google’s TalayLink is set to connect Australia and Thailand through the Indian Ocean on a route west of the Sunda Strait, avoiding the congested passage.

The South China Sea is also becoming a central pressure point for cable investment decisions. Google and Meta Platforms’ Echo cable, linking the U.S. to Singapore through Guam and Indonesia, illustrates how major technology companies are redesigning Asia-Pacific networks to reduce exposure to China, even if that means higher costs and more difficult terrain for cable laying.

Samuel Bashfield, a research fellow at La Trobe University, says installers are increasingly wary of operating in the South China Sea. He says permitting barriers and maritime enforcement pressures have pushed some projects to reroute along coastlines and into shallower seabeds, an option seen as less favorable for network resilience.

The $700 million Asia Connect Cable System led by Inligo Networks is set to bypass the South China Sea through Indonesia and the Philippines. The Pacific Light Cable Network, linking the U.S. with Taiwan and the Philippines, also changed course after its planned Hong Kong connection was dropped following American intervention.

Regional infrastructure stakes extend beyond cables

The competition is not limited to cable routes. Washington has been pressing Southeast Asian and Pacific countries to favor American, Japanese or European suppliers over Chinese vendors, while both the U.S. and China argue that foreign participation in cable infrastructure could create intelligence or sabotage risks.

Huawei’s former cable business remains part of that strategic debate. Under mounting U.S. scrutiny, Huawei sold its 51% stake in Huawei Marine Networks in 2019 to Hengtong Optic-Electric, and the business was later renamed HMN Technologies, but U.S. allies including Japan and Australia still want to reduce its role in Asian projects.

Australia said in August that every Pacific Islands Forum member was connected to the global undersea cable network for the first time, marking progress in regional connectivity. But the next contest is likely to center on data centers, because countries backing cable projects also need to support local storage and processing infrastructure or risk leaving room for Chinese suppliers.

Japan is expected to remain central to that effort as both a manufacturing base and a connectivity hub between North America and Asia. With NEC among the world’s largest subsea cable builders and ASEAN leaders due to meet in Manila next month alongside a planned Quad leaders’ meeting, subsea cable security is becoming a broader industrial and geopolitical issue with consequences likely to shape regional alignments for decades.

In our earlier report on how geopolitical conflicts and tariffs are reshaping global trade, we highlighted the WTO’s warning that disruptions from wars and policy uncertainty are driving companies to redesign supply chains and routes for resilience, even at higher cost. The piece noted that some shifts could persist beyond the current conflicts as businesses adopt alternative corridors and contingency plans to reduce exposure to future shocks.

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