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Abstract As critical infrastructure, undersea cables are becoming the focus of great powers and a new perspective to analyse the U.S. strategic approach towards China. Undersea cables have existed throughout the history of great power rivalry, during which the U.S. has repeatedly used it to attack its opponents. Undersea cables expand the dimension of great power infrastructure rivalry and has the developmentsecuritytechnologyspace nexus. Undersea cables have higher technical requirements and are the key to the Fourth Technological Revolution. Having been located in deep sea, undersea cables lack effective supervision and are more vulnerable to risks. The U.S. rivalry with China on undersea cables is mainly based on national security considerations. At the same time, it hopes to use undersea cables to suppress Chinese companies and reduce their market share, as well as maintaining technological dominance and deep sea hegemony. The U.S. competitive measures include forcing undersea cables to suspend construction or bypass China, cooperating with allies and partners to exclude Chinese companies from undersea cable market, restricting the export of undersea cable technology to China, and developing offensive undersea capabilities to attack China’s undersea cables. The rivalry between the U.S. and China on undersea cables will lead to a dual structure in the digital field and increase the difficulty of global digital governance. Besides, the rivalry will be detrimental to the improvement of connectivity in IndoPacific states and the growth of local enterprises. It will also weaken the strategic stability between the U.S. and China, which increasing the risk of accidental occurring in deep sea.
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