Explained: US, China's undersea battle for control of global internet grid

Huawei Technologies Co. is a Chinese firm that has led the construction and upgrading of over 90 undersea internet cables. The United States has publicly spoken against allowing these projects to continue. The Chinese company’s increase of ownership of undersea cables, that most of the Internet's traffic flows on, opens new potentials for Chinese government to monitor and divert data - leading to other espionage. The United States views Chinese control as a threat to itself and its allies and has pushed for countries to use their own cable companies to avoid this risk.