Defense

China's ability to sever or tap Southeast Asian undersea cables creates pre-conflict leverage that degrades allied coordination without triggering retaliation. The advantage is quiet, legal, and growing.

Ninety-five percent of Philippine internet traffic travels through fiber-optic threads that no navy can protect. China's gray zone operations exploit legal voids and attribution impossibilities, leaving Southeast Asia's digital infrastructure structurally vulnerable to interference that cannot...

China has developed specialized equipment to sever undersea cables at 4,000-meter depths. The Philippines routes 95% of its international data—including military command systems—through exactly such cables. If Beijing cuts these connections during a Taiwan crisis, Manila's ability to coordinate...