The discovery of a suspected Chinese underwater drone in Indonesian waters has raised global concerns about undersea surveillance capabilities. This incident highlights the escalating security race across key Asian choke points like the Lombok Strait.

A suspected Chinese underwater drone hauled out of Indonesian waters this month has sharpened global focus on a security race that analysts say has been years in the making across South and Southeast Asia: undersea surveillance. The torpedo-shaped device was found near the Lombok Strait, one of the few deepwater channels through which submarines can transit submerged between the Pacific and Indian oceans and a passage closely watched by the United States and Australia. Beijing said it did not...