Chile is promoting an ambitious but controversial submarine cable project that will connect it with Hong Kong.

This cable, dubbed the Chile-China Express, is to be developed with little transparency by the shipping firm Inchcape Shipping Services (ISS) and partners linked to China.

It reportedly seeks to strengthen connectivity with Asia, but has raised significant concerns about digital sovereignty and cybersecurity in the region.

Unlike the Humboldt project, driven by Google and the Chilean state, which connects Valparaiso to Sydney under an open and transparent partnership, the Chile-China Express is moving forward without public timelines or clear details of the consortium or funding.

Announced over the summer, few details about the route or landings are available.

Chile-China Express would be the first cable directly connecting Chile to China, and only the second trans-Pacific cable landing in Chile.

Google is developing the Halaihai system will connect Chile to several Pacific Islands, including Guam and French Polynesia, where it would connect to several other cables Google is developing in the region.

This opacity of the new project is aggravated by current Chinese legislation, which obliges companies to cooperate with intelligence services in the delivery and auditing of data, even outside their national territory.

In practice, this could imply risks of unauthorized access to sensitive data circulating through this cable, not only for Chile but also for other countries in the region, such as Argentina, Brazil, Peru, and Ecuador, given the transnational nature of telecommunications networks.

This project is part of a geopolitical competition between powers to dominate the critical infrastructure that underpins the global digital economy. While China seeks to consolidate its influence through such mega-projects, Western initiatives such as the Humboldt seek to position Chile as a reliable and open digital hub in the South Pacific.

However, the lack of transparency in the execution of the Chile-China Express raises legitimate doubts about its real impacts on digital governance and regional privacy.

In addition to technical considerations, recent reports reveal that Chinese operations abroad have mechanisms in place to exert surveillance and pressure on their communities abroad, which adds a political and security dimension to the analysis of these projects. In contrast, projects with international partners generally exhibit greater clarity and commitment to global standards of governance and transparency.

In this context, Latin America faces a crucial debate on how to balance the modernization of its digital infrastructure with the protection of its sovereignty and cybersecurity. The accelerated development of submarine cables is a strategic piece for the economic and technological future, but also a field where commercial, technological, and geopolitical interests converge and require a thorough review, transparent control mechanisms, and an informed regional dialogue.

ISS is a British multinational ports and marine management company headquartered in London. Owned by London-based private equity firm Epiris LLP, the firm was acquired from Istithmar World, the investment arm of Dubai World, in 2022.