ASIATODAY.ID, STOCKHOLM – Sweden asked Chinese-flagged ships to return to its waters on Tuesday, November 26 2024. This follows an investigation into alleged sabotage of underwater internet cables in the Baltic Sea.
Reporting from Politico, two undersea cables connecting Finland with Germany and Sweden with Lithuania were cut last week. This incident sparked concern in European capitals.
One of the suspicious ships, the Chinese-flagged Yi Peng 3, was sailing close to the damaged cable at the time of the incident. The ship was on its way from Russia to Egypt.
Swedish and Finnish authorities immediately opened an investigation into this incident. Meanwhile the Danish Navy confirmed they were monitoring the movements of the ship which is now anchored in international waters between Sweden and Denmark.
The Swedish Prime Minister, Ulf Kristersson, stated that his party had contacted the Chinese ship and asked the ship to move towards Swedish waters.
Despite this, Kristersson stressed that there were no direct charges against the ship.
Kristersson noted this was not the first time a similar incident had occurred, with several previous cables also experiencing damage for no apparent reason.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was more emphatic, saying no one believed the cable was cut accidentally.
He suggested that this could have been a hybrid act or sabotage. He considered the incident to be part of a sabotage effort even though he did not yet know who the perpetrator was.
Beijing denies involvement in the cable sabotage. The Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs stated they were in dialogue with the countries involved in this case, including China. (AT Network)
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