Trans-Pacific Cable Plans Mired In US-China Geopolitical Rivalry

An anonymous reader writes "Attempts to build a new telecommunications cable between the US, New Zealand and Australia have become a nexus for the growing rivalry between the U.S. and China in the Pacific. The U.S. is reportedly creating a technology ring fence to match its military one and contain China's ambitions in the Pacific. The U.S. military could even help pay for any planned new cable to link its bases in American Samoa with its expanding military presence in Australia's Northern Territory. It has been made 'very clear' U.S. authorities would not allow significant Chinese investment in one cable project and it followed that they would not tolerate the use of Chinese gear in its construction. 'It was made very clear. These are cables connecting whole countries. These are very political things,' one insider said."

Comments

Re:Don't mess with America

[girlintraining]

Submersible hunter-killer drones lie in wait to defend America's freedom cable and orbital defense platforms defend the space above from communist tyranny. Long live freedom's reign.

Says the guy living in the country with the highest incarceration rate on Earth source

We're defending something, sure, but I don't think it's freedom.

Re:Easy answer...

[girlintraining]

Except for the 65 odd ICBMs.

After thumbing through the dense tomb that you posted, which was moderated +4, Informative, I find no mention of any intercontinental ballistic missiles. It is also three years older than my link, which wasn't in PDF form, and indicated they only had regional launch capability. The document you provided indicated they had only managed to create missiles with a 500 or so mile range. Barely enough to get the nuclear ordinance they've developed far enough up-wind to not eat the radioactive fallout after. China is a big country.

Perhaps a more careful investigation of documentation in the future would be helpful? But given how many times my factual statements have been moderated down in this thread in favor of bullshit exaggeration... it's not surprising. I expect the moderation on this one will serve to further confirm that Slashdot has become the Fox News of the IT world...