Recent Undersea Cable Cutting Points Finger To China

Over the March 22 weekend, it was reported that the China Ship Scientific Research Centre (CSSRC) and its affiliated State Key Laboratory of Deep-sea Manned Vehicles have developed a ship able to cut cable lines at depths of up to 4,000 meters (13,123 feet). Though subsea cable ships are outfitted with equipment to repair damaged or cut cables, the record depths to which this ship can go and the increasing tension in maritime areas with critical subsea infrastructure suggest that China has strengthened a tool in its arsenal, whether for intentionally cutting cables or supporting “marine resource development,” as alleged by Chinese scientists.

In the great power competition between the United States and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), subsea cables have emerged as critical theater, given that they are indispensable to international communications and are vulnerable to deniable intentional disruption; accidental cuts; surveillance, particularly at cable landing sites; and other risks. Regarding cable cuts, Taiwan has long accused China of deliberately cutting its cables through grey zone tactics. In response, China has argued that any cuts to Taiwan’s cables were due to maritime accidents, which are admittedly a common occurrence. While it is difficult to definitively establish whether such cuts were intentional, the PRC—by recently unveiling a new ship with the distinct purpose of cutting undersea cables—has laid bare that it regards sabotage and other intentional alteration of cables as just another coercive move in its playbook. Specifically, these actions signal that the PRC will likely further deploy cable cutting capabilities in the Taiwan Strait, the South China Sea, and beyond.

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