Security News > 2022 > May > China offering ten nations help to run their cyber-defenses and networks

China has begun talking to ten nations in the South Pacific with an offer to help them improve their network infrastructure, cyber security, digital forensics and other capabilities - all with the help of Chinese tech vendors.

That's a nod to accusations that China practices what's been labelled "Debt trap diplomacy" whereby development assistance comes with repayment plans small nations may not be able to afford.

Pacific nations have pushed back on the plan, citing worries that it could effectively see them cede sovereignty or lose control of key assets.

While the nations of the South Pacific do not have large populations, or economies, any student of World War II will know that their location makes the strategically significant as their airstrips and harbors offer the chance to project force against trans-Pacific shipping.

As the recent volcanic eruption in Tonga demonstrated, by severing submarine cables, Pacific nations are as dependent on internet connectivity and therefore a secure online environment, as any other.

Which gives Pacific nations the choice of accepting Chinese assistance in the knowledge that doing so will alienate allies.

News URL

https://go.theregister.com/feed/www.theregister.com/2022/05/27/china_south_pacific_tech_assistance/