Lawmakers want US tech CEOs to address concerns about undersea cables amid China, Russia tension

PHOTO CAPTION: Illustrative photo — Members of Taiwan's Navy and media onboard a special operation boat navigate near a Kuang Hua VI-class missile boat, during a drill part of a demonstration for the media, to show combat readiness ahead of the Lunar New Year holidays, on the waters near a military base in Kaohsiung, Taiwan January 31, 2024. REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins

By David Shepardson

WASHINGTON  -  Three Republican House lawmakers on Monday asked the CEOs of Alphabet, Facebook parent Meta, Amazon.com and Microsoft if they have adopted adequate safeguards to address growing national security concerns on submarine communications cables.

Washington has been raising alarm about the network of more than 400 subsea cables that handle 99% of international internet traffic and about threats from China and Russia.

The letter raised concerns that entities affiliated with China "such as SBSS, Huawei Marine, China Telecom, and China Unicom, have continued to provide maintenance or servicing to cable systems in which your companies maintain direct or indirect operational involvement or ownership." The letter was signed by Representative John Moolenaar, who chairs a House panel on China, and also by Republican representatives Carlos Gimenez and Keith Self, who chair subcommittees.

The Chinese embassy in Washington did not immediately comment.

The tech companies did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The letter said the committees are "examining the extent to which foreign adversarial actors are positioning themselves, both overtly and covertly, to compromise subsea cable systems at key points of vulnerability."

The lawmakers want the companies to disclose by August 8 whether they are aware of any instances of suspected hardware tampering, optical signal tapping, unexpected signal distortion or other operational irregularities during any cable repair or maintenance event.

"A growing body of evidence points to a pattern of coordinated malign activity linked to the People’s Republic of China and the Russian Federation targeting subsea infrastructure in the Baltic Sea, Indo-Pacific, and other strategic regions," the letter said.

Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr said last week that the the agency plans to adopt rules to bar companies from connecting undersea submarine communication cables to the United States that include Chinese technology or equipment.

Since 2020, U.S. regulators have been instrumental in the cancellation of four cables whose backers had wanted to link the United States with Hong Kong.

In November 2024, two fiber-optic undersea telecommunication cables in the Baltic Sea were cut, prompting investigations of possible sabotage. In 2023, Taiwan accused two Chinese vessels of cutting the only two cables that support internet access on the Matsu Islands. In addition, Houthi attacks in the Red Sea may have been responsible for the cutting of three cables providing internet service to Europe and Asia.

(Reporting by David Shepardson in Washington, Editing by Franklin Paul and Matthew Lewis // REUTERS)