Building Cooperative Frameworks for Subsea Cable Security in the Indo-Pacific

By Taylar Rajic, CSIS
March 24, 2026

As the Indo-Pacific region further expands its global economic power, subsea fiber-optic cables will play an essential role in regional growth and stability, while also acting as a frontline in broader strategic competition. Subsea cables are essential to daily functioning in the region—they carry 95 percent of the world’s data, making them crucial pieces of digital infrastructure. Japan, for example, alone hosts at least 20 subsea cable landing stations, which serve as critical conduits for the island’s internet and data connectivity with the rest of Asia and the wider world. The Indo-Pacific is home to numerous subsea cables, including in the South China Sea, meaning these systems are increasingly at risk due to the evolving security landscape. Subsea cables are proliferating across the region as digitalization continues and as the growing need for cloud computing, streaming, and e-commerce fuel investments in enhanced connectivity.

Cable networks in the Indo-Pacific run through a complex regional landscape shaped by a high volume of maritime trade and economic activity as well as shifting geopolitical tensions. The region is home to three of the world’s largest economies—China, India, and Japan—and is responsible for more than a third of global economic activity. It also includes numerous emerging and developing economies, creating a regional landscape of disparate response capabilities to subsea cables threats and disruptions. As this landscape continues to evolve, government and private sector cooperation is essential to adapting to and overcoming threats to subsea cables and the broader maritime security environment.

Most damage to subsea cables is accidental, with a majority of issues caused by natural disasters, fishing, and genuine maritime accidents, but these systems also face potential threats from malicious actors who may seek to deliberately sabotage cables and therefore disrupt a country or region’s connectivity. The regulatory environment surrounding subsea cables runs on outdated maritime laws that complicate mitigating and preventing such behavior. In a low-probability but high-impact situation where cables are cut intentionally, malicious actors can take advantage of a cloak of plausible deniability. Regulatory harmonization through easing and streamlining permitting processes would allow private companies to build cables more easily, enhance redundancy, and strengthen resilience. A more robust subsea cable ecosystem, governed by updated regulations, would therefore help protect against future cases of sabotage.

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