China’s snooping around Pacific undersea cables raises risks for Big Tech
Summary
Ars Technica reports that subsea fiber-optic cables over the Pacific face increasing risks from sabotage and 'gray zone' activities by China, as identified in a USCC report contracted to the CSRI. The piece describes an interactive Trans-Pacific Cable Gray Zone Vulnerability Index and highlights cables like TPU (Google), ORCA (Meta), and E2A (Verizon-led) as high risk. It also discusses dual-use technology, surveillance by Chinese research vessels near cables, and potential broad economic impacts of disruptions.