Chile picks Japan's trans-Pacific cable route in snub to China - This is truly significant, in more ways than one. Let’s briefly unpack why.
1. Chile has de facto taken Latin America into the Indo-Pacific. Certainly it’s Pacific facing side; https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Telecommunication/Chile-picks-Japan-s-trans-Pacific-cable-route-in-snub-to-China

2. Chile has also offered a reminder that political pressure doesn’t necessarily negate economic advatanges, or comes with heavy economic costs;
3. Japan has, for his part, proved that FOIP - as an infrastructure story - remains very different from BRI;

4. NEC is leading on the contract and that speaks to the Japanese long-standing notion of quality infrastructural projects;
5. This is a success also of Japan-Australia relations, and a sign of a growing role that these two actors have in shaping the Indo-Pacific;

In all, this bit of news is likely to require us to: redraw partly the boundaries of the Indo-Pacific, think about the potential of decoupling, reinforce FOIP as a positive shaping vision, and set that JPN-AUS ties one little step higher up.

And now, the important part of this story which is not in the article: the most important Chilean-JPN link is not an underwater cable. It is this:
The Chilean cruiser Esmeralda - later sold to Japan and commissioned in the IJN as Izumi - eventually serving in the Russo-JPN War.

Because every good story is at heart a naval story. Or so yours truly Alessio ‘naval’ say.

And in case you wonder, this is the lovey Esmeralda. Built in the UK, delivered in Latin America, and back in the West Pac to fight the Russian navy. If that’s not an Indo-Pacific story, I dint know what it. (And yes, it’s all about the UK shaping it )