US — Ars Technica

China’s snooping around Pacific undersea cables raises risks for Big Tech

SecurityOctober 28, 20262 min read

A new report warns that undersea internet cables in the Pacific Ocean could be targets for sabotage, with US tech giants such as Google and Meta facing some of the biggest risks. The report points to Chinese ships that may be secretly studying these cables.

What happened

A new report says that undersea cables owned by US companies like Google and Meta face some of the highest risks of deep-sea sabotage in the Pacific Ocean. Chinese research ships have spent a lot of time apparently surveying these cables. Chinese commercial ships have also been investigated for cutting cables in European and Asian waters.

Why undersea cables matter

Undersea cables are thick lines of fiber-optic wire on the ocean floor. They carry most of the internet traffic between countries. Most cable damage is accidental. Fishing nets dragging on the seabed, ship anchors, storms, and underwater landslides cause most breaks. Lately, though, experts worry about cable damage that may be on purpose. They call these actions "gray zone" tactics. Gray zone tactics are actions that cause harm but stay below the level of open war.

Key facts from the report

The report was published in September 2026 by the US-China Economic and Security Review Commission, an independent government group that advises Congress.
The London-based think tank China Strategic Risks Institute did the research.
The authors built an interactive Trans-Pacific Cable Gray Zone Vulnerability Index that ranks the cables most at risk.
The index looks at water depth, nearby shipping traffic, who owns the cable, China's exclusive economic zone and territorial claims, and whether the cable connects to Taiwan.

Why it matters

The index can help decide which cables need the most protection, such as underwater sensors or patrols. Because the internet depends on these cables, damage could slow down communication and online services across many countries. It also shows how tensions between major powers could reach the ocean floor.

What to watch

Whether governments add sensors or patrols to the cables ranked as most at risk.
Whether more cable damage is found to be deliberate rather than accidental.
How China responds to the report and to the attention on its research ships.
Tensions around Taiwan, which the index treats as a major risk factor.

Glossary

Gray zone: Actions that harm or pressure another country without starting a full war.
US-China Economic and Security Review Commission: An independent US government group that advises Congress on China-related economic and security issues.
China Strategic Risks Institute: A London-based think tank that studies security risks linked to China.

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