US funding tapped for Pacific undersea cable after China rebuffed

The Federated States of Micronesia will tap a US funding facility to construct a Pacific undersea communications cable, two sources told Reuters, after rejecting a Chinese company-led proposal that was deemed a security threat by US officials. 

The United States has taken great interest in several plans in recent years to lay optic fibre cables across the Pacific, projects that would bring vastly improved communications to island nations.

The undersea cables have far greater data capacity than satellites, leading Washington to raise concerns that the involvement of Chinese firms would compromise regional security. Beijing has consistently denied any intent to use cable infrastructure for spying.

FSM said it was committed to providing fibre connectivity to the State of Kosrae, and onward connectivity to Kiribati and Nauru. It did not respond directly to questions about US funding. The US State Department declined to comment. The US and FSM have a long geopolitical relationship, enshrined in the Compact of Free Association, a decades-old agreement between the US and its former Pacific trust territories.