Defense officials from Europe and Southeast Asia called for stronger collaboration to protect the global network of subsea cables as concerns grow over threats to this vital infrastructure.
Countries such as Singapore and Malaysia are becoming key hubs for the roughly 600 fiber-optic cables that carry nearly all of the world’s data. Meanwhile, a spike in cable damage in European waters, particularly in the Baltic Sea, has heightened fears about the network’s vulnerability.
“We need to work together to defend the entire network,” Singaporean Minister of Defense Chan Chun Sing (陳振聲) said at the IISS Shangri-La Dialogue security forum on Sunday. “There’s no point trying to defend the integrity and security of a submarine cable by looking at a point. We need both ends to be secure.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
The issue came up repeatedly during the two-day summit in Singapore, with European officials keen to share what they have learned from the recent rise in subsea cable damage. Today, the global undersea cable network stretches about 1.4 million kilometers.
With the demand for data center power projected to surge significantly with the advent of intensive artificial intelligence platforms, more cables are essential. Protecting them has become a key imperative in Europe since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, with incidents in its waters mostly involving tankers traveling to and from Russia, and in at least one case, a Chinese vessel.
A rise in the sale of subsea cable systems could see investment reach US$15.4 billion from last year to 2028, as data center construction booms, connectivity needs soar and the role of big tech companies expands in the market, Bloomberg Intelligence said.
Despite suspicions of sabotage, there has been no strong evidence pointing to deliberate attacks, with the incidents more likely to be accidents or careless behavior. Still, NATO countries have increased patrols in key areas to ensure the safety of undersea infrastructure.?
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas urged European and Asian partners to work together at sea to tackle covert “shadow fleets” of tankers and review maritime security laws.
Protecting digital cable infrastructure is important for Manila, too, Philippine Secretary of Defense Gilberto Teodoro said in an interview. He added that his country, which is locked in a long-running dispute with China in the South China Sea, is working to build up its capabilities to address the threat.
Bangkok also called the issue a pressing concern, with Thai Minister of Defense Phumtham Wechayachai saying the country is collaborating with Singapore and Brunei.
He added that undersea infrastructure faces risks not only from sabotage, but also from accidents and natural disasters.
An American scientist convicted of lying to US authorities about payments from China while he was at Harvard University has rebuilt his research lab in Shenzhen, China, to pursue technology the Chinese government has identified as a national priority: embedding electronics into the human brain. Charles Lieber, 67, is among the world’s leading researchers in brain-computer interfaces. The technology has shown promise in treating conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and restoring movement in paralyzed people. It also has potential military applications: Scientists at the Chinese People’s Liberation Army have investigated brain interfaces as a way to engineer super soldiers by boosting
Jailed media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai (黎智英) has been awarded Deutsche Welle’s (DW) freedom of speech award for his contribution to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. The German public broadcaster on Thursday said Lai would be presented in absentia with the 12th iteration of the award on June 23 at the DW Global Media Forum in Bonn. Deutsche Welle director-general Barbara Massing praised the 78-year-old founder of the now-shuttered news outlet Apple Daily for standing “unwaveringly for press freedom in Hong Kong at great personal risk.” “With Apple Daily, he gave journalists a platform for free reporting and a voice to the democracy movement in
PHILIPPINE COMMITTEE: The head of the committee that made the decision said: ‘If there is nothing to hide, there is no reason to hide, there is no reason to obstruct’ A Philippine congressional committee on Wednesday ruled that there was “probable cause” to impeach Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte after hearing allegations of unexplained wealth, misuse of state funds and threats to have the president assassinated. The unanimous decision of the 53-member committee in the Philippine House of Representatives sends the two impeachment complaints to deliberations and voting by the entire lower chamber, which has more than 300 lawmakers. The complaints centered on Duterte’s alleged illegal use and mishandling of intelligence funds from the vice president’s office, and from her time as education secretary under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Duterte and the
Burmese President Min Aung Hlaing yesterday cut all prisoners’ sentences by one-sixth, a blanket measure that a source close to deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi said would further shorten her detention. Aung San Suu Kyi has been sequestered since a 2021 military coup, but the senior member of her dissolved National League for Democracy (NLD) party said that while her term had been reduced, her remaining sentence is still unclear. “We also don’t know exactly how many years she has left,” the source told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. The military toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government
RSS