On Sunday (December 22), Sweden’s Foreign Minister criticized the Chinese Communist Party for refusing to allow the country’s prime investigators aboard the Chinese vessel “Yi Peng 3” to conduct inspections, as the ship is suspected of cutting two underwater cables in the Baltic Sea.
Swedish authorities said that on Thursday (December 19), a Chinese investigative team boarded the “Yi Peng 3” and allowed representatives from Sweden, Germany, Finland, and Denmark to board as observers, but did not permit the Swedish prosecutor investigating the case to come on board.
By Saturday (December 21), the “Yi Peng 3” had already left the international waters between Denmark and Sweden, seemingly heading towards Egypt.
According to the Financial Times, Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard stated in a commentary sent to the newspaper: “The government takes this matter very seriously. It is surprising that without allowing the prosecutor to conduct inspections and question the crew according to Swedish criminal investigative procedures, the ship was allowed to depart.”
On November 17 and 18, two undersea cables in the Baltic Sea were damaged, one linking Finland and Germany, and the other connecting Sweden and Lithuania.
Voyage records show that “Yi Peng 3” was passing through the relevant waters when the cables were cut.
Swedish authorities requested the Chinese authorities to allow the ship to enter Swedish waters from international waters for a comprehensive investigation. The Chinese side stated they would cooperate with the investigation, but the “Yi Peng 3” has remained in international waters.
Ships sailing in international waters enjoy the principle of “freedom of navigation”, meaning a country cannot interfere with ships sailing under the flag of another country.
Denmark helped facilitate a compromise agreement that permits European countries to send representatives on board, with assurances that the “Yi Peng 3” will be able to resume sailing after inspection.
Opinions on why “Yi Peng 3” cut the undersea fiber optic cables vary among involved countries. Some officials believe it was due to poor navigation techniques that may have caused the ship to drag anchor in the Baltic Sea.
However, some officials from other countries privately express suspicion that Russia may be behind the incident, possibly providing incentives to the crew. This suspicion arises from the fact that the ship had just left a port in Russia two days before the accident on November 15.
This incident of cable cutting marks the second time in 13 months that a Chinese vessel has damaged infrastructure in the Baltic Sea.
In October 2023, a Chinese container ship named “Newnew Polar Bear” dragged anchor for a long distance at the bottom of the Baltic Sea during a storm, damaging a natural gas pipeline.
Officials from Nordic and Baltic Sea countries remain skeptical about the possibility of similar incidents occurring twice in a short period.
(Reference: Reuters)