Sweden has formally asked China to cooperate in an investigation into damage to two cables in the Baltic Sea after a Chinese ship was linked to the incidents.
The cables – one linking Sweden to Lithuania, the other Finland to Germany – were damaged in Swedish territorial waters in the Baltic Sea on November 17 and 18.
A Chinese ship, the Yi Peng Three, was likely in the area at the time and has since been anchored in international waters off the coast of Denmark.
China has denied any involvement in the sabotage.
The Yi Peng Three left the Russian port of Ust-Luga, west of Saint Petersburg, on November 15.
Early on November 17, the Arelion cable between the Swedish island of Gotland and Lithuania was damaged.
The next day, the C-Lion 1 cable between the Finnish capital Helsinki and the German port of Rostock was broken.
Data from ship tracking websites suggests that the Yi Peng Three sailed the cables around the time each was cut.
According to the Wall Street Journal, investigators suspect the ship deliberately damaged the cables by dropping and dragging its anchor on the seabed for more than 100 miles (160 km).
The ship has been in the Kattegat Strait – a passage between Sweden and Denmark that connects the Baltic Sea to the North Sea – since November 19 and is monitored by the Danish navy.
On Thursday, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson told a news conference that his government had “sent a formal request to China to cooperate with the Swedish authorities to clarify what happened.”
“We think it is extremely important to find out exactly what happened and, of course, we also expect China to comply with the request that we sent,” he said.
He also reiterated an earlier request for the vessel to return to Swedish waters so that the vessel could be searched as part of the investigation, while adding that he was not making any “accusations” of any kind.
The period since Russia's full invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has been marked by increased tensions in the Baltic Sea and a number of incidents involving damage to underwater infrastructure .
In September 2022, a series of explosions blew holes in the two Nord Stream gas pipelines between Western Europe and Russia, and in October 2023, an underwater telecommunications cable between Estonia and Sweden was damaged .
Speaking last week, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said of the latest incident that “no one believes these cables were cut accidentally”, although he did not specify who he believed was responsible.
Russia has rejected suggestions it may have been involved, calling them “absurd” and “laughable.”
