Sweden Requests Cooperation from China Following Undersea Cable Sabotage Suspicions
Sweden has formally approached China in a bid for cooperation regarding the suspected sabotage of two undersea fiberoptic cables in the Baltic Sea. Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson made the announcement on Thursday, emphasizing the need for clarity concerning the incidents that occurred last week between Finland and Germany, and Sweden and Lithuania. "Today I can tell you that we have additionally sent a formal request to work together with Swedish authorities to get clarity about what has happened," he stated during a press conference.
As speculations mount, attention has turned to the Chinese ship Yi Peng 3, which sailed over the cables around the time they were severed and has since remained anchored in the Kattegat strait—located between Sweden and Denmark—being monitored by several vessels, including the Danish navy.
Leading the investigation, Swedish authorities have refrained from commenting on the allegations, while China’s foreign ministry has denied any involvement. The Wall Street Journal reported that investigators are looking into claims that the vessel's crew may have deliberately damaged the cables by dragging an anchor across the seabed over a distance exceeding 100 miles.
Currently, Swedish police and prosecutors have chosen not to comment on this theory, reiterating that their crime scene investigations on the cables have concluded, with analyses still underway. Likewise, the Swedish navy and coastguard have also declined to provide statements regarding the situation.
The absence of seismic activity signals—often indicative of explosions—at the time of the cable damage supports the theory that an anchor may have been responsible for the severing. Kjølv Egeland, a senior researcher at Norsar, Norway's national data center for nuclear test ban treaties, remarked, "There was no explosion or seismic signal at all, which could be consistent with this anchor theory."
This investigation comes in the wake of previous incidents in the Baltic, including two major explosions that damaged the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines last September, which have been claimed to involve a small Ukrainian sabotage team—though this assertion was refuted by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
In a separate incident in October 2023, the Balticconnector gas pipeline suffered extensive damage, with Finnish investigators attributing the incident to a large ship anchor linked to another Chinese container vessel, NewNew Polar Bear.
The cable between Sweden and Lithuania, owned by a Swedish company, was reportedly damaged on November 17, followed by damage to the cable between Finland and Germany several hours later. Both affected sites fall within Sweden's economic zone. Finnish police have mentioned that samples from the cable at the Finland-Germany rupture site have been taken for further forensic analysis, as investigators treat the damage as aggravated criminal damage and interference with communications.
Addressing this alarming situation, Kristersson labeled the Baltic Sea a "high risk zone" during a summit in Harpsund with Nordic and Baltic leaders. "We are aware that there is a high risk for different types of activities on the Baltic Sea that are dangerous," he disclosed, while underscoring that authorities remain cautious about pointing fingers at any party just yet, as the investigation continues. "We don’t know that this is sabotage. But we are investigating the matter very carefully."
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