Submarine Cables, Espionage, and China
Deep in the oceans rest the arteries and veins which pump life into the 21st century as it did in the 19th and even 18th Century. These essentials are also, or, rather officially known as submarine cables. These cables are spread over 750 miles and are anchored to the sea floor connecting the world above them. Many cables are laid cross seas and oceans, traversing international waters and national boundaries. As human population and information surges in the 21st century knowledge is power, and internet is one medium for it. But, one might wonder, who owns this information? Ultimately, those who own these cables will be able to control and monitor the information that passes through them. The globe-trotting cables made of glass, covered by eight layers, one being petroleum jelly have or lie on singular countries jurisdiction. That beckons, who has the right to control these cables?
Internet cables are protected in the same fashion as valuable resources. That is because, both have the same value. Nearly 380 active cables carry over 95 per cent of precious data flows through fibres cable every single-day. This data also consists of government’s correspondence, user profiles and banking information. The one’s responsible for the logistics of the cables- private investors are also backed by governments or state-owned companies, and resources are poured into the process of laying down the cables. Hundreds of millions of dollars and the most advanced tools and materials are all dedicated to building the backbone of the modern world. These cables only are they routinely inspected for external damage from dropped anchors, earthquakes, or even shark bites, but they are also patrolled by their owners to deter any information tapping from foreign governments. All this is done through the collaboration of private investors, tech companies, and governments. Projects like ‘the operation’ takes years; authorities need to map the safest route, damage-proof the cables, dig the trenches, and lay down the cables. All this investment is worth it, for they will give access to information abroad and the potential to control the flow of data. At times these submarine cables help countries to collect information by tapping into the cables and gather data.
When there’s will, there’s way and that was the case during the Cold War. Missions like Operation Ivy Bells sought a fleet of troops to the bottom of the Sea of Okhotsk in Soviet territorial waters to find a five-inch diameter cable that carried communications between military bases. They installed a 20-foot long listening device on the cable to record Soviet messages. Eventually, the tap was discovered and the mission compromised. The GCHQ (Government Communications Headquarters) functioned with the secret objective to decrypt messages sent by foreign countries. Located in Bletchley Park now Milton Keynes, where codebreakers, including the mathematician Alan Turing, interpreted German communications during the Second World War and managed to crack the secret of the Enigma machine. According to the BBC, most of the agency's 5,000 staff are based at its headquarters in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, which is nicknamed the Doughnut. Six years ago, The Guardian revealed that GCHQ had tapped into fibre-optic cables to gain access to the servers of mostly US internet providers
One might never know, or at least till date does not know of any such operations that could still be ongoing beneath the ocean without us knowing. However, with tech giants quickly gaining control of more and more cables, there could be a new way to spy on other countries. Contractual agreements with tech firms can easily give governments access to the information that flows through the cables, giving Facebook and Google even more leverage than they already have. It is estimated that, in 2020 Google and Facebook will own about 29% of the cables that run throughout the world. These giants currently own the entirety of the Curie cable, which runs from Chile to Los Angeles. With state backing and investment, tech giants could control and sell more information, and they could even persuade governments since they own the cables that deliver their secrets. For example, Google could restrict access to information vital for national security interests if governments refuse to give them more tax exemptions. Internet cables are armoured with a variety of very durable materials. These cables run through international territory, muddying the question of ownership. It begs the question: are sections of these cables subject to the local laws of the territories they cross?
Private companies argue that cables are ‘private property’, thus subject solely to the company’s control. Nonetheless, complicity to international laws and treaties is important, and any breach will result in civil action law suit, trigger indemnity of contracts and cost of repairs according to Articles 5,6,7 and 8 of the Convention 1884 - International Cable Protection. Moreover, Article 87 of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), allows freedom to lay submarine cables and pipelines in international waters, and areas that cross into sovereign territory. The Continental shelves are subject to restrictions. UNCLOS Article 112 provides the freedom to lay down cables and must be subject to the rights of other states to do the same.
Entry upon the sovereign state’s territorial sea of 12 nautical miles from the coast, companies who piloted the project are required to possess various permits, licenses, and environmental agreements according to local laws and international treaties before operating within the country.
Lastly, UNCLOS allows states, as a right, to set down internet cables, yet cable ownership cannot be determined easily by flying a flag. While they still need permits to lay down the cables, the information they collect can be considered property of the owner. This gives private companies significant leverage over governments. If current regulations are not updated, tech companies have the potential to gain a monopoly over our data, and governments may find it more and more difficult to control their behaviour. Those who control internet servers and undersea cables have significant leverage. In short, one can understand the situation cables which are privately-owned, are allowed to traverse sovereign territory, whereas states are subject to the international treaties they signed, and private companies’ can/ may go scot-free. Most of China’s tech giants, such as Huawei, Alibaba and Ten cent, are private firms and are more entrepreneurial than the state behemoths. These companies have close links with the Chinese Communist party and because of which they get financial incentives from the state to become global multinational companies. Chinese banks provide funding, as they do to more traditional infrastructure companies.
China, in Southeast Asia and especially in the South China Sea is successfully dominating and enabling herself to lay down their own network cables away from the eyes of the international community. Southeast Asia has been among the areas where Huawei has been looking to for opportunities. A prominent example of this was Huawei Marine’s role in an international submarine cable between Cambodia, Thailand, and Malaysia which involved Cambodia’s Telcothech, Malaysia’s Telekom, and Thailand’s Symphony Communication Public Company Limited. The 1,300-kilometer project, known as the Malaysia-Cambodia-Thailand (MCT) Submarine Cable System and Landing Station in Cambodia, was formally launched in March 2017 after years of work, and it made headlines in Cambodia in particular as it was the first submarine cable into Cambodia.
Their goals to expand their 5G networks, headed by Huawei. Huawei is China’s tech card. Their golden ticket to the gold which rests comfortably on the ocean beds. Espionage, legally will not be a correct classification if China tapes the cables with the world and has ownership of it too.
To buttress, and substance to this Orwellian thought, Huawei Marine Networks is working on 100 submarine cables across the world. Having already completed a 4,000-mile cable last year that runs from Brazil to Cameroon. Huawei have already had some involvement in this area in Cambodia, and in various cases, Phnom Penh has shown that it is much more interested in the opportunities these firms offer rather than the risks inherent in pursuing deals with them.
China Unicom, the company that owns the cable, was able to win the bidding because of the subsidies they received from the government. Possession of the South China Sea could mean the control over the data that flows between surrounding countries. A monopoly on the network can give China the intelligence and leverage necessary to control such regions.
China acknowledges that intelligence is the key to control and, they also know the key is resting in the oceans. China’s policy plans are, in short, attempting to circumvent international regulations, relations, and most importantly, international law. Already observed in the annexation of the islands in the South China Sea, they rest claims within their sovereign territory. Therefore, international organisations cannot interfere with their desire to lay down new internet cables there, that is because, China will be operating within their rights. This will have massive ramifications all of the Southeast Asian region. Huawei’s 5G networks would spread across the region, so it will be more and more difficult to use non-Chinese servers thus creating and economic influence over the area. Using data China will reinforce her position as hegemon of the continent. Violations of international regulations and norms flooding the market, environmentally damaging practices, and manipulation of their currency will become harder to sanction, especially if the Chinese have enough incriminating information on other nations.
Closer to home, a new Asia-Africa-Europe cable, financed by China Construction Bank, will connect Pakistan and Djibouti, where China opened its first overseas naval base in 2017. In Pakistan, the cable network will land in Gwadar, a port China is developing as part of Belt and Road and where US officials believe Beijing wants to open a naval facility, which China has denied. The cable is planned to connect to a land-based link with China.
Even lately China’s attempt at tapping on the submarine cables was reported in Indian Ocean region.US had already warned Germany that in case Huawei is preferred for developing mobile-internet infrastructure in the country then intelligence sharing would be limited between the two countries. China’s interest in developing submarine cables has also seen with apprehension because it would mean that the internet telephony and data sharing would be done with Chinese instruments which might have the backdoor for surveillance. With deep submersibles that China has developed and deployed in Indian Ocean, the possibility of tapping into conversations and data cannot be ignored. Now when China is increasingly accused for being the creator of the Wuhan virus, it would be an incentive to Chinese companies to provide information related to this debate, and internet is one medium which needs to be tapped.
China has worked out a blue print to create a Digital Silk Road. This would be complete ecosystem comprising of undersea cables, terrestrial and satellite networks. This would support China’s rise in the new global digital infrastructure network. The next 4 billion internet users are a huge prize; one which China thinks it has a shot at winning. But it is clear, the digital battle lines are to drawn in the waters between the West and China.
Pic courtesy-Dong Cheng at unsplash.com
(Ankit Malhotra is a student of Law at O.P Jindal Global University and has a keen interest in International Maritime Law. He can be reached at ankitmalhotra97@gmail.com. The views expressed are personal.)
