Asha Hemrajani of Singapore’s S Rajaratnam School of International Studies said the region’s digital economy, projected to hit at least US$1 trillion, relied almost entirely on these cables.
“Cables in general carry over 99% of intercontinental data traffic,” she told FMT.
“But they remain vulnerable to accidental or deliberate damage, natural hazards, and climate change, resulting in disruption to public services, military links, and finance.”
Most of Asean’s subsea infrastructure lies in the South China Sea, which is considered the fastest route and most cost-effective method to connect Southeast Asia with the Americas. But tensions in the disputed waters have complicated cable projects and repairs.
While the 2016 Permanent Court of Arbitration ruling under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) invalidated China’s “nine-dash line” claims, Asha said Beijing continued to impose permit requirements on cable routes and repairs.
This, she said, had delayed several non-Chinese projects and discouraged cable investors from laying routes through the area.
“These bureaucratic and political constraints, coupled with the shift of major US and allied cable investments away from Hong Kong and the South China Sea, illustrate how strategic competition and regulatory barriers have become major drivers of risk to subsea cables in this region,” she added.
Farlina Said of Malaysia’s Institute of Strategic and International Studies (ISIS) said subsea cables straddled multiple jurisdictions, complicating governance and crisis response.
She said the cables could be both a cybersecurity problem, involving encryption or red teaming processes, and a maritime security issue, which covers physical protection and repair rights.
“The responsibility for these tasks may be unclear,” she said.
Both analysts called for stronger regional coordination and implementation of existing frameworks to safeguard critical infrastructure.
Asha said Asean should develop a “multi-stakeholder strategy” to strengthen the 2019 Asean Guidelines for Strengthening Resilience and Repair of Submarine Cables, while also exploring defence-level cooperation for cable surveillance.
“Building more cables, such as the proposed Asean-wide cable to enhance capacity and diversity, is another important initiative,” she said, adding that there were multiple legal initiatives that Asean member states could consider underpinning stronger regional cable resilience.
Farlina said regulatory agencies must work more closely across sectors.
“Asean does have a Guideline for Strengthening Resilience and Repair of Submarine cables released in 2019, but there are challenges in subsea cables security that require greater conversations on the maritime-cybersecurity nexus,” she said.
The 47th Asean Summit and Related Meetings, to be held in Kuala Lumpur from Oct 24-28 under Malaysia’s chairmanship, are expected to address regional security, digital infrastructure resilience and economic cooperation.