US Allows Google Internet Project to Advance Only if Hong Kong Is Cut Out

US officials granted Google permission to turn on a high-speed internet link to Taiwan but not to the Chinese territory of Hong Kong, citing national-security concerns in a ruling that underscores fraying ties between Washington and Beijing. “There is a significant risk that the grant of a direct cable connection between the United States and Hong Kong would seriously jeopardize the national-security and law-enforcement interests of the United States,” the US Department of Justice said in its decision, which was backed by the departments of Homeland Security and Defense. The agencies instead urged the Federal Communications Commission to grant Alphabet permission to start using the portion of its 8,000-mile underwater Pacific Light cable that connects California to Taiwan. The FCC approved that request April 8. Crews have already built the multimillion-dollar cable with branches to Taiwan and Hong Kong, but it remains dormant. The FCC has final authority over licenses to operate submarine cables, though it usually defers to other agencies on projects’ national-security reviews.