The risk of China spying on the Pacific undersea cable network | World



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Huawei related

To improve the communication of the three small island nations, Kiribati, the Federated States of Micronesia and Nauru, the World Bank (WB) and the Asian Development Bank (ADB) are financing the Kiribati Connection Project to develop the cable line. The subsoil of Eastern Micronesia is worth $ 72.6 million.

The United States Senator warned

Two Republican senators, Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, sent letters to Micronesia accusing China of subsidizing companies to outpace competitors, and then carrying out espionage and coercion. through the project. The two senators said awarding the contract to Huawei Marine would complicate the relationship between the United States and Micronesia, making it difficult for officials from the two countries to interact. According to Reuters, the United States is responsible for the defense of Micronesia, which used to be a fiat territory administered by the United States.

According to a Reuters investigation, in the bidding list with the name of Huawei Marine, a subsidiary of Huawei Group, but was recently acquired by the Chinese manufacturer of fiber optic cables Hengtong.

However, Huawei Marine’s involvement did not help worry US officials because the company was blacklisted by the US Department of Commerce, restricted from purchasing US products and technology.

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Huawei, for its part, has been the target of a series of US sanctions in recent years, accusing it of installing “back doors” in equipment to steal information and provide it to the Chinese government. although this company insisted. According to Reuters, Huawei Marine is bidding at a price 20% cheaper than other contractors in Europe and Japan, so it is expected to be more likely to win the bid.

The installation of underground cables in the Pacific has become a sensitive issue in terms of security and diplomacy. In 2018, Australia spent big to overtake Huawei Marine, winning a tender to build underground cable systems to provide internet to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands. Given that the cable has a connection point in Sydney, Australian officials are concerned that there may be a security risk if Huawei Marine wins the tender. Similarly, the East Micronesia project is also planned to connect to the HANTRU-1 submarine cable, which primarily serves the island of Guam, where a major US military base is located.

Security risk

According to Reuters, the US State Department sent a note to the three Pacific countries in July to express “strategic concerns” and warned against awarding the contract to companies related to the Chinese government because of the risk. filtered data. Earlier, the Nauru administration also warned Micronesia and development agencies about Huawei Marine’s involvement in the project.

Newsweek newspaper recently quoted Au Giang Yen, spokesperson for the Taiwan Foreign Affairs Agency, as saying that China’s main objective is to monopolize the provision of communication networks in the Pacific by subsidizing public prices. Company to offer cheaper than the competition. “Its strategic objective is to control key infrastructure in relevant countries in the region and collect big data to track and steal information,” said Au.

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Meanwhile, a State Department spokesman said Washington was deeply concerned about the national security and economic risks of Huawei and its current and former subsidiaries, including Huawei Marine. In response, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Uong Van Ban criticized the United States for trying to smear China and emphasized that Beijing never forces companies to install “back doors” on robbery and robbery devices. Provide information.

When asked about the matter, a WB spokesperson announced that the tender was still ongoing and could not comment on the process at this time. Meanwhile, the Micronesian government said some within the project want to make sure the underground cable line does not affect regional security through network security breaches.




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