Sweden’s foreign minister said Monday that China had denied a request for prosecutors to conduct an investigation on a Chinese ship linked to two severed Baltic Sea cables despite Beijing pledging “cooperation” with regional authorities.
Sections of two telecom cables were cut on November 17 and 18 in Swedish territorial waters. Suspicions have been directed at the Yi Peng 3, which according to ship tracking sites had sailed over the cables around the time they were cut.
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“China is willing to maintain communication and cooperation with the countries involved to advance the follow-up handling of the incident,” [spokeswoman Mao Ning] said.
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard also noted Monday that Swedish prosecutors had not been allowed to conduct an investigation.
“Swedish police have been on board as observers in connection with the Chinese investigation… At the same time, I note that China has not heeded our request for the prosecutor to conduct an investigation on board,” Stenergard said in a statement to AFP.
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Sweden’s prosecutor Henrik Soderman [said] that no measures had been taken on board the ship as part of the Swedish judicial probe, including questioning crew members or technical investigations.
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“Our request that Swedish prosecutors, together with the police and others, be allowed to take certain investigative measures within the framework of the investigation on board remains. We have been clear with China on this,” Stenergard said.
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European officials have said they suspect sabotage linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
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Early on November 17, the Arelion cable running from the Swedish island of Gotland to Lithuania was damaged.
The next day, the C-Lion 1 submarine cable connecting Helsinki and the German port of Rostock was cut south of Sweden’s Oland island, around 700 kilometres (435 miles) from Helsinki.
Tensions have mounted around the Baltic Sea since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
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In October 2023, an undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was shut down after it was damaged by the anchor of a Chinese cargo ship.
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