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    Illustration: Liu Rui/GTA new report funded by Australia's Department of Defense played up security risks to submarine cables in the Indo-Pacific waters and pointed finger at China and some other countries over alleged undersea‑cable attacks in recent years, while claiming threats against subsea cables are growing. A Chinese expert said that accusing China without conclusive evidence constitutes "over‑securitization" made by Australian side, as well as a calculated pretext for its own military expansion.
Published by the National Security College at the Australian National University (ANU), the paper claimed recent damage to cables in the Baltic Sea and around China's Taiwan region suggests "state actors are now actively probing and testing cable infrastructure in peacetime as part of broader hybrid warfare strategies" to rapidly degrade connectivity at the outset of a conflict, The Australian reported.
The paper claimed 16 privately owned subsea cables that carry 99 percent of Australia's internet traffic are a "high priority target" for Australia's adversaries that could be severed in a conflict, threatening the nation's economy and social fabric, according to The Australian.
The report singled out China and Russia for blame, saying that there have been multiple apparent attacks on submarine cables in recent years in European waters as well as near China's Taiwan region, suspected to be linked to Russia and China, the Straits Times reported.
However, the report cites a 2025 voyage by Chinese research vessel Tan Suo Yi Hao along Australia's western and southern coastlines as evidence to back its claim that "potential adversaries are actively gathering information about Australia's cable infrastructure."
This report, relying on the routine scientific operations of a Chinese research vessel in 2025 to level allegations of offensive actions against China, and employing ambiguous terminology such as "suspected" and "potential," demonstrates Australia's evidentiary leap, Chen Hong, director of the Australian Studies Center of East China Normal University, told the Global Times on Monday.
This erroneous claim was refuted by the Chinese Foreign Ministry at the time. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said on March 31, 2025 that China carries out normal activities at sea in accordance with international law, including UNCLOS. 
"We hope Australia will have a right understanding of this and stop the groundless suspicion and speculations," Guo added.
This is not the first time certain Australian politicians has leveled baseless accusations of China intending to sabotage its undersea cables. Back in May, Defense Minister Richard Marles claimed during the Shangri-La Dialogue that China ought to boost transparency around its maritime operations. He also asserted that a surge in damage to subsea cables had transformed the seabed into a "battlefield," per The Australian.
Chen said Australian side's scaremongering is tied to its predictive threat‑perception framework forged in recent years. This framework designates China and other countries as strategic competitors in advance, subsequently forces routine scientific activities into a confrontational framework, Chen said.
Apart from unfounded allegations against China, the paper claims Australia's defense military "must incorporate the defense of submarine cable infrastructure into its operational planning," according to The Australian.
It added the government should also consider up¬grading an auxiliary ship operated by the navy, ADV Guidance, to enable it to repair damaged cables.
The vast majority of submarine cable damages are caused by accidental factors such as fishing operations and vessel anchoring, rather than deliberate sabotage. For suspected cases of intentional damage, independent technical investigation bodies should be established, and the principle of "investigate first, characterize later" should be strictly applied, so as to prevent ordinary maritime accidents from escalating into diplomatic conflicts, Chen said.
The core problem of Australian side's submarine cable security lies entirely with itself. Instead of addressing its own infrastructure shortcomings and improving its domestic protection and maintenance systems, the Australian side has chosen to continually exaggerate external threats and stoke bloc confrontation, the expert added.
Chen said that by fabricating alleged Chinese threats, Australian side seeks to "rationalize" its military spending increases and underwater force expansion. The submarine digital infrastructure originally meant to serve global development has been labeled along us versus them lines, and this constitutes the biggest hidden danger, he added.
。    Europe’s leading hotelier Accor - a French international hospitality business with billions in revenue and more than 5,100 hotels - is now beginning “trials” to hire people with no experience in the hotel industry, the company’s chief executive Sebastien Bazin said, as it struggles to fill at least 35,000 vacancies.,“We tried in Lyon and Bordeaux 10 days ago and this weekend we're having people interviewed with no CV, no previous job experience and they are hired within 24 hours," Bazin said.,Since underpaid workers left the company, Accor is now filling those positions with those who are desperate for work such as students and/or expats.,Those who are practically hired on the spot by the multi-billion dollar company are trained in only six hours and are forced to learn on the job. The company will also limit their contact with customers as they struggle with staffing.,"It's students, people coming from North Africa," Bazin said, "and basically closing restaurants for lunch or [opening them] only five days a week. There's no other solution.",Some hoteliers will have to increase pay to find the help they need this tourist season. Spain’s tourism sector supported 13.5 percent of their workforce in 2018 - before the pandemic - and accounted for 11.8 percent of their gross domestic product in 2017. But Spain’s catering industry is at present short some 200,000 workers, and Portugal is fighting to increase staff at their hotels to keep pace with increasing demand.,"Many employees have decided to move to other sectors, so we are starting an industry from scratch and we have to fight for talent," said Gabriel Escarrer, chief executive of Spanish hotel group Melia which, along with other hospitality businesses, is reportedly offering higher wages than previously, health insurance, and free accommodation - though that last perk could be more a reflection of the shortage of housing near resorts.,However, hoteliers such as Hotel Mundial - located in Lisbon, Portugal - are facing the far from ideal decision of cutting services if they can’t find staff, and those who employ students will have to juggle rotas to accommodate their schedules.,“During the week we can't open because we have no hands - they are studying,” said Jose Carlos, who owns a bar in Madrid called Tabanco de Jerez.,Spain's hospitality industry is now paying 60 percent more than it did last year, on average, in an attempt to lure workers back to the force - however, those working in the tourism industry are still among the lowest-paid workers.,"Half of it is we've been blind, we've been not paying attention to a lot of people and probably underpaying some people for too long as well," said Bazin, who is worried his company won’t have enough staff when the summer rush, which is the height of the tourist season - arrives. "So it's a wake-up call.",One of the best documented reasons for people leaving their job during 'The Great Resignation' was because they were being paid too little. Another reason was the lack of professional advancement within the industry.,Other reasons people quit in 2021 included: feeling disrespected, lack of flexibility in scheduling, and a lack of benefits such as healthcare and paid holiday, according to a Pew Research Center survey. That same survey found that those who quit their job were able to find new places of employment that offered them better pay and more opportunities.。

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Published on:03:20:21