In a classic display of Cold War nostalgia dressed up as policy analysis, The National Interest recently published a lengthy hit piece titled "China's Underwater Ambitions: Driving the AI Race with Global 'Heat Debt'." The article criticizes China's first commercial underwater data center off Hainan Island as a move to dominate cheap AI computing while discharging significant waste heat into the South China Sea.

It notes the project developer's prior role as a Chinese Navy supplier and its placement on the US entity list, contrasts it with Microsoft's Project Natick — which avoided full commercialization over claimed environmental risks — and urges the US to pursue AI competition alongside stronger international rules on ocean thermal pollution.

The article takes a legitimate commercial project in Hainan's Lingshui waters and turns it into a story of geopolitical threat, environmental sabotage, and unfair competition.

It fabricates a "thermal debt" crisis, attacks a private Chinese company with weak claims, and ignores America's own underwater data center experiments. This is not balanced analysis. It is zero-sum thinking meant to support tech containment and Western rule-making advantages.

Rather than viewing the Hainan Lingshui underwater data center as a standard commercial innovation, the article frames it as a new front in great-power rivalry. It describes the project as a "geopolitical tool" for China to gain dominance in AI.

This characterization is inaccurate. The project is a fully compliant commercial facility, developed and operated under Chinese laws and regulations. It is an important part of Hainan's Free Trade Port strategy to integrate marine science with digital economy growth.

The sealed modules — positioned about 35 meters underwater — take advantage of natural seawater cooling to dramatically reduce energy consumption, achieving a power usage effectiveness (PUE) as low as 1.07.

The center provides AI and cloud computing services to regular business clients. It draws power from nearby offshore wind sources and avoids consuming land or freshwater resources.

Portraying such practical technological progress as "expansionist" reflects an outdated zero-sum mindset that views every Chinese advancement as a strategic threat rather than a contribution to global efficiency.

The article also levels unsubstantiated attacks on the project's developer. It emphasizes the company's past as a naval supplier and references its placement on the US entity list based on unproven allegations.

It further questions the legitimate acquisition of a Canadian firm and tries to link it to Microsoft's earlier Project Natick. These claims fall short. The company holds full independent intellectual property rights over its underwater modules and specialized cooling systems.

All its business activities comply with standard commercial regulations both in China and internationally. Like many technology companies worldwide, the developer has experience working across civilian and government sectors, but this does not make its commercial products military tools.

The attempt to tarnish the company through guilt by association lacks evidence and appears designed to damage its reputation.

At the core of the article is the concept of a "global thermal debt", an idea that lacks credible scientific backing. The piece warns that heat discharged from planned modules will cause significant and irreversible warming of deep-sea waters. It also draws questionable comparisons to past issues in China's rare-earth industry. In reality, the modules strictly adhere to China's national marine environmental standards and have undergone thorough environmental impact assessments.

Tests of comparable underwater systems show only minor localized temperature increases — typically under 1–2°C at the outlet — that dissipate within a few meters, thanks to ocean currents and the sea's enormous heat capacity. The oceans naturally handle much larger heat exchanges daily.

More importantly, the project delivers substantial environmental benefits: it can reduce energy consumption by up to 40 percent compared to traditional data centers, conserves freshwater, and lowers carbon emissions through integration with renewable energy. The "thermal debt" narrative turns a genuine green technology solution into an invented environmental threat.

When advocating for new international rules and US policy responses, the article applies a clear double standard. It recommends accelerating domestic approvals while pushing for new interpretations under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea to define "heat pollution" and establish a "global thermal footprint tracking protocol". Yet, the United States previously tested nearly identical technology through Microsoft's Project Natick, which operated successfully for over two years on the seabed near the Orkney Islands.

Microsoft reported excellent server reliability and minimal environmental impact, describing the trial as a success without calling for new global regulations or raising alarms about thermal debt. No international controversy followed.

However, when China advances the concept into full commercial operation, it is suddenly portrayed as a crisis requiring new guardrails. This selective approach suggests the real objective is to use environmental concerns to slow China's technological progress while preserving Western advantages in AI infrastructure.

The article's criticism extends to Hainan Free Trade Port as a whole. It implies that the project shifts environmental costs onto the global ocean commons. This claim does not align with Hainan's actual policies or achievements. The Hainan Free Trade Port Law places ecological priority and green development at the center of all planning.

The underwater data center is fully consistent with this approach: it minimizes land use, relies on clean energy, and meets strict marine environmental requirements. Hainan has maintained strong coastal environmental quality while pursuing economic growth, demonstrating that sustainable development and technological innovation can go hand in hand.

In conclusion, the Hainan underwater data center represents a practical commercial innovation that enhances energy efficiency and supports sustainable AI development.

The National Interest article misrepresents the project, the company, and its environmental impact. It applies different standards to Chinese progress than it did to similar US experiments. Genuine technology competition should focus on real performance, efficiency, and benefits rather than selective environmental arguments designed to create new obstacles.

Open cooperation in green computing better serves global interests than attempts to block advancement. The ocean is vast enough to accommodate sustainable innovation from all countries. Turning every technological step into another episode of imagined confrontation only wastes valuable time and opportunity.

The author is the director of the Center for International and Regional Studies, National Institute for South China Sea Studies.

The views don't necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

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