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A utility pole carrying fiber optic internet cables pictured at sunset in Portland, Oregon, March 24, 2020. /AP
**Editor's note: **Huang Yongfu is an economic affairs commentator. After his PhD, he started working at the University of Cambridge and then moved on to the UN. He is an author of many papers and books in the field of global development. His current interests lie in global development and Sino-U.S. ties, especially trade, financial and technological issues. The article reflects the author's opinions and not necessarily the views of CGTN.
On April 8, the U.S. authorities released a regulatory approval thatgrants cable landing licensestoGoogle to start usingthe portion of the Pacific LightCable Network (PLCN)connectingCalifornia to Taiwan, not to Hong Kongas originally planned, citing national security concerns.
The move is expected to fundamentally rewrite the rules of internet connectivity between the U.S. and China. If the U.S.sanctions on Huawei Technologies Co. are to disentangle sensitive the telecommunication network from Chinaand dent its electronics heavyweight, its block of the internet link to Hong Kongis to unravel internet connectivity withChina, part of Washington'sbroad strategy to blunt Beijing's ambitions to expand military and economic influenceglobally.
What does it mean for theU.S.and China?
What is the Pacific Light Cable Network?
Given theever-growing network traffic between the U.S. and Asia, as part of their long-term strategy to take more control of the network pipes that connect majordata centers, Silicon Valley giants like Google and Facebook have teamed up with their Chinese investment partnersto fund the submarine Pacific LightCable Network project since 2016.
Costing at least 300 millionU.S. dollars, the projectis an 8,000-miletrans-Pacific high-speed cable system across the seafloorbetweenthe U.S. territoryto the Chinese territory of Hong Kong, including a Facebook-backed fiber-optic line linking Los Angeles to Hong Kong and a Google-backed project linking Guam to Hong Kong.
The final authority over whether to grant licensesor permission to power up the cable system has been held by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which typically heeds the assessments of a multi-agency national security panel led by the Justice Department, known as Team Telecom, tailored to assess the national security and law enforcement risks.
That system has been built under a temporary permitand remaineddormantfor some time, because of the objections coming from Team Telecom.
Following months of uncertaintyto win the necessary license, American tech giants are exploring potential interconnectionpoints in Asia, including but not limited to Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam, alternative to Hong Kong, or possibly through satellites instead of cables oncethe technology allows.
The recurring outbreaks of a 'national security'virus
On Wednesday, Team Telecom firmly putitsfoot down on the original plans for a trans-Pacific internet link to China'sterritory, citing a significant risk in a ruling that a direct cable connection between the United States and Hong Kong would seriously jeopardize the national security and law enforcement interests of the United States.
The givenconcerns have been that the Chinese government might block or tap traffic, since theChinese investment partner, Beijing-based Dr. Peng Telecom Media Group Co., has close ties withthe Chinese government,and the autonomy of Hong Kongis declining, with the city experiencing massive demonstrations for months last year.
The movewould be the first time that the U.S. blockedan undersea cablelinking to Chinese territory,based on national security grounds. Previously, Team Telecom had approved similar cable projects directly linking the U.S. to the Chinese mainland or involving state-owned Chinese telecom operators.
It adds toWashington's tech sanctionsagainstChina, most prominentlya high-profile campaignwaged together with some alliesto exclude Huawei from their next-generation mobile networks and the undersea cable networks that ferry a chunkof the global internet data.
The move might sour the already fraying ties between the U.S.andChina as it involves Taiwan, with which the U.S. maintainsunofficial political tieswitharms sales, although officiallyclaimingthat it is part of China. A prolonged trade conflicthas been recently followed by escalating tensions in relation to the novel coronavirus outbreak.
It has signaled a tougher stance towards China, a harbinger of things to come.
A man prepares the exhibition booth of Huawei at a smart transportation expo in Hangzhou in east China's Zhejiang, Dec. 05, 2019. /AP
The 'quarantine'operation via data cable works better for China
In fact, the current "quarantine or lockdown"operation against China via data cable could well boost the competitors of U.S. tech firms, including Chinese domestic firms.
First, while the U.S. blocks this particular cableto Hong Kong, theincreasingneed for greater bandwidth and data capacity to handle customers'video chats, social media posts and YouTube videos will continue toexist.
The move will hobble the U.S. companieswhich are still interested in the Chinese market and force them tofind a wayto route cables outsideU.S. jurisdiction.Their competitors, either Chinese domestic firms or non-U.S. foreign firms, will get a great chance to expand their market shares or route more traffic over which the U.S.has no chance of oversightor leverage.
Second, the U.S. denialofthis particular cable could spell trouble for multiple outstanding projectsrelated to Hong Kong. Hong Kong will emerge as an ideal destination for internet cablesfor other countries or regions seeking connections around the region. As a semi-autonomous Chinese territory, Hong Kong remains a global or major regional internet hub,havingunfiltered access to the web and links to growing markets in the Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia as well as the Chinese mainland.
The 'national security'virus should be contained
Under "America first"populism, the Trump administration has been aggressively deploying aneconomicarsenal such as tariffsto contain China and weaken Europe, citing "national security"concerns. The "national security"concernsreflect a zero-sum struggle among nationsin which the economic successes of America's competitors are deemed to threaten American global primacyand nationalsecurity.
The "national security"excuse is a virus that has kept international relations at daggers drawnand held global rules at stake, ultimatelytaking a toll on the American and global economy, after Trump took office.
For the sake of the U.S.long-terminterests, American voters should keep "social distancing"from the national security hawks of the Trump administration so as to contain thevirus and put the brakes on Trump's short-sighted foreign policies, to be replaced with policies of international cooperation.
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