Digital Port Exposure in China's Maritime Connectivity

Abstract

ABSTRACT China's maritime infrastructure expansion is usually analyzed through finance, ownership, location, and dual‐use potential. This article shifts attention to the digital systems through which ports now operate. It develops the concept of digital port exposure to describe how foreign‐linked digital systems become embedded in port operations, data environments, vendor relationships, and oversight structures. The article introduces a Digital Port Exposure Index built around five dimensions: system embeddedness, data sensitivity, vendor access and dependence, system criticality, and governance and oversight capacity. Applying the framework to Doraleh in Djibouti, Gwadar in Pakistan, and Kuantan in Malaysia, the article shows that digital exposure does not follow neatly from Chinese investment, port ownership, or strategic geography. Instead, exposure varies according to how digital systems are connected, maintained, and governed. The findings contribute to debates on China's Asia‐linked maritime connectivity by showing that the strategic significance of ports increasingly depends not only on physical infrastructure, but also on the digital systems that organize cargo flows, customs processes, surveillance, and operational coordination.