Sweden seeks China's help on telecom cable sabotage probe
Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson announced on Thursday during a conference in Harpsund, Sweden, that we have sent an official request to China for cooperation in clarifying the issue of the severed telecommunications cables in the Baltic Sea.
"Substantially, this does not change anything in this matter, but it expresses our firm intention to conduct an inspection of the ship (Chinese Yi Peng 3) to find out what really happened," emphasized Kristersson.
Earlier, the Swedish Prime Minister announced that the Swedish side would like the ship located in the Kattegat Strait in international waters to enter Swedish territorial waters.
Since last week, the Danish navy and the Swedish coast guard have guarded the Chinese vessel.
Severing of two undersea cables
On November 17 and 18, there was damage to two undersea telecommunications cables, one connecting Lithuania with Sweden and the other connecting Finland with Germany. The incidents occurred in the Swedish economic zone, southeast of Gotland Island and south of Öland Island. Yi Peng 3 departed from one of the oil ports in Russia.
The Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday that investigators examining the severing of the communication cables on the floor of the Baltic Sea suspect that the detained Chinese container ship Yi Peng 3 deliberately cut the cables. It allegedly dragged an anchor for over 160 kilometres. According to the newspaper, the investigation is focusing on whether Russian services commissioned the sabotage.
