China’s undersea cable threat raises $10T fears as Trump-Xi talks loom

Key Points:

• Former U.S. intelligence official Andrew Badger warned that adversaries like China and Russia are increasingly targeting undersea cables, which carry 99% of global data and support up to $10 trillion in daily financial transactions, posing a significant threat to the U.S. economy and national security.
• Badger highlighted that these undersea cables are a fragile yet critical infrastructure for internet, banking, energy markets, and military communications, and that coordinated attacks could cause massive economic disruption and political instability.
• In response to these threats, bipartisan legislation called the Strategic Subsea Cables Act of 2026 was introduced in April to enhance the security and resilience of undersea infrastructure vital to U.S. interests.
• China has reportedly developed technology capable of severing armored submarine cables at great depths, and incidents involving cable damage have been reported in Taiwan, Europe, and elsewhere, suggesting coordinated "gray-zone" operations aimed at weakening Western responses without triggering open conflict.
• Experts warn that China could use attacks on undersea cables as a strategic lever to deter U.S. involvement in Taiwan, a key flashpoint in U.S.-China tensions, by undermining American public will through economic chaos rather than direct military confrontation.