*

US regulators have blocked cables linking US with Hong

Kong

since 2020

*

Senators urge review of undersea cable security, citing

threats

from Russia and China

*

FCC vows to ensure adversaries can't tamper with or

intercept

communications

(This Oct. 21 story was updated on Oct. 22 to add Chinese

comment in paragraphs 10-11)

By David Shepardson

Oct 21 (Reuters) - A bipartisan group of eight U.S.

senators on Monday urged President Joe Biden to order a review

of the security of the global network of undersea communications

cables that handle nearly all the world's internet traffic.

Nearly all international internet traffic travels on

undersea cables and the locations of the cables are often openly

published to prevent accidental damage.

"It is imperative that the United States undertake a review

of existing vulnerabilities to global undersea cable

infrastructure, including the threat of sabotage by Russia as

well as the growing role of the People's Republic of China in

cable laying and repair," said the letter, led by Republican

Todd Young and Democrat Chris Murphy.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment.

The United States for years has expressed concerns about

China's role in handling network traffic and potential for

espionage.

More than 400 subsea cables form the backbone of the

internet, carrying more than 95% of the world's data traffic.

In 2020, Federal Communications Commissioner Geoffrey Starks

said the agency "must ensure that adversary countries and other

hostile actors can't tamper with, block, or intercept the

communications they carry."

The senators, including Marco Rubio, Brian Schatz, Tim Kaine

and Dan Sullivan, said ensuring internet traffic security must

be a national priority and raised a number of questions

including what is the "administration's overall strategy to

guarantee the security of America's undersea infrastructure and

to promote the security of that of our allies and partners?"

They also asked what is the ideal size of the U.S.-flagged

and U.S.-operated cable-laying and repair vessel fleet to ensure

sufficient cable repair capacity, and how is the White House

working to encourage other nations to choose trusted undersea

cable manufacturers.

The Chinese Embassy in Washington criticized the letter,

saying international undersea cables are crucial for

international communications.

"The letter is turning undersea cables into a political and

security issue, which severely disrupts international market

rules, threatens global digital connectivity and cybersecurity,

and denies other countries, especially developing countries, the

right to develop their undersea cable industry and independently

choose undersea cable suppliers," the embassy said.

Reuters reported last year the State Department and its

partners had helped to prevent China from obtaining new subsea

contracts in foreign places of U.S. strategic interest, while

other U.S. agencies had prevented any cable from directly

connecting U.S. territory with mainland China or Hong Kong over

Chinese espionage concerns.

Since 2020, U.S. regulators have been instrumental in the

cancellation of four cables whose backers had wanted to link the

United States with Hong Kong.

In April, the FCC ordered the U.S. units of China Telecom

, China Unicom and China Mobile to

discontinue broadband internet operations in the United States.

In June, the FCC advanced a proposal to boost the security of

information transmitted across the internet after government

agencies said a Chinese carrier misrouted traffic.