Sweden wants suspicious Chinese cargo ship to reach its territorial waters

View of the anchor of the Chinese ship, the bulk carrier “Yi-Peng-3”, in the Kattegat Sea near the town of Grenaa in Jutland, Denmark, November 20, 2024. MIKKEL BERG PEDERSEN / REUTERS La Sweden requested, on Tuesday, November 26, that the Chinese cargo ship anchored off its coast return to its territorial waters, in order to contribute to the investigation into the cable break submarines, considered a possible act of sabotage. Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers In the affair of damaged submarine cables in the Baltic Sea, the noose is tightening around the Chinese boat “Yi-Peng 3” Read later “We have been in contact with the ship as with China and we have made it known that we want the boat to head towards Swedish territorial waters,” Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson said at a press conference, specifying that the objective was not to launch a “accusation”. “It is only the desire, on the part of Sweden, that the ship reaches Swedish territorial waters so that we can more easily cooperate to understand what happened,” he assured. Sections of two telecommunications cables, both located in Swedish waters in the Baltic Sea, were cut on November 17 and 18. The Yi-Peng-3, a bulk carrier built in 2001, sailed into the area of ​​the cables around the time they were severed, according to ship tracking sites, although there is no indication it was involved in incidents. The fact that the ship has remained anchored since last Tuesday in the narrow Kattegat Strait, between Sweden and Denmark, has raised questions. Due to tensions around the Baltic Sea since the outbreak of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, several leaders have raised the possibility of a “hybrid attack”, in reference to actions taken by Moscow to harm them. Suspicions of sabotage rekindled The rupture of these two cables has revived suspicions of sabotage in Europe, particularly towards Moscow. “This is laughable given the lack of reaction to Ukraine’s sabotage activities in the Baltic Sea,” scoffed Russian presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov, referring to the sabotage of the Nord Stream gas pipelines in September 2022 for which Moscow accused kyiv. The first to raise the hypothesis of sabotage was the German defense minister: “No one believes that these cables were cut by accident,” declared Boris Pistorius on November 19. Read also: Nord Stream: one year after the sabotage of the gas pipelines in the Baltic Sea, uncertainty remains over the origin of the explosions Read later Two legal investigations are underway, one of which is being conducted by the Swedish police for “sabotage » and concerns the two cable damages which occurred in Swedish waters. The telecommunications cable, the Arelion, linking the Swedish island of Gotland to Lithuania, was damaged on the morning of Sunday 17th. A second submarine cable, the C-Lion1, which connects Finland to Germany, broke on Monday morning. At the same time, Finland opened an investigation for “aggravated criminal damage” and “aggravated interference with communications” concerning the damage to the German-Finnish cable. Le Monde Mémorable Test your general knowledge with the editorial staff of “Le Monde” Test your general knowledge with the editorial staff of “Le Monde” Discover “Situations of this type must be assessed taking into account the growing threat posed by Russia in our neighborhood” , for their part declared the Swedish and Lithuanian defense ministers. According to Finnish and Swedish media, the Yi-Peng-3, which left the Baltic Sea early Tuesday morning, followed by the Danish navy, after passing through a Russian port, could also have played a role in the two incidents. . Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers Chinese external intelligence and destabilization operations increasingly assertive Read later Le Monde with AFP Reuse this content



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