Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson yesterday said that Stockholm wanted a Chinese ship, anchored off Denmark after two Baltic Sea cables were cut, to move to Swedish waters to aid an investigation.
Kristersson told a morning press conference that Sweden had “been in contact with the ship and with China, and have stated that we want the ship to move towards Swedish waters.”
He added that it was not an “accusation,” but aimed to “figure out what has happened.”
Photo: AFP
Sections of two telecom cables were cut on Nov. 17 and 18 in Swedish territorial waters of the Baltic Sea. The Yi Peng 3 sailed over the cables around the time they were severed, according to ship tracking sites, although there is nothing to indicate that it was involved in the incidents.
Swedish and Finnish police have opened investigations and European officials have said they suspect “sabotage” linked to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
The Kremlin has rejected the comments as “absurd” and “laughable.”
The Yi Peng 3 has remained anchored in the narrow Kattegat strait between Sweden and Denmark.
The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs has denied any responsibility in the matter.
Denmark’s navy on Wednesday last week said it was shadowing the vessel, which is in international waters. Sweden’s coast guard joined it on Saturday.
Early on Nov. 17, the Arelion cable running from the Swedish island of Gotland to Lithuania was damaged. The next day, the C-Lion 1 submarine cable connecting Helsinki and the German port of Rostock was cut south of Sweden’s Oland island, about 700km from Helsinki.
Tensions have mounted around the Baltic Sea since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In September 2022, a series of underwater blasts ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines that carried Russian gas to Europe, the cause of which has yet to be determined.
In October last year, an undersea gas pipeline between Finland and Estonia was shut down after it was damaged by the anchor of a Chinese cargo ship.
Tens of thousands of Filipino Catholics yesterday twirled white cloths and chanted “Viva, viva,” as a centuries-old statue of Jesus Christ was paraded through the streets of Manila in the nation’s biggest annual religious event. The day-long procession began before dawn, with barefoot volunteers pulling the heavy carriage through narrow streets where the devout waited in hopes of touching the icon, believed to hold miraculous powers. Thousands of police were deployed to manage crowds that officials believe could number in the millions by the time the statue reaches its home in central Manila’s Quiapo church around midnight. More than 800 people had sought
DENIAL: Pyongyang said a South Korean drone filmed unspecified areas in a North Korean border town, but Seoul said it did not operate drones on the dates it cited North Korea’s military accused South Korea of flying drones across the border between the nations this week, yesterday warning that the South would face consequences for its “unpardonable hysteria.” Seoul quickly denied the accusation, but the development is likely to further dim prospects for its efforts to restore ties with Pyongyang. North Korean forces used special electronic warfare assets on Sunday to bring down a South Korean drone flying over North Korea’s border town. The drone was equipped with two cameras that filmed unspecified areas, the General Staff of the North Korean People’s Army said in a statement. South Korea infiltrated another drone
COMMUNIST ALIGNMENT: To Lam wants to combine party chief and state presidency roles, with the decision resting on the election of 200 new party delegates next week Communist Party of Vietnam General Secretary To Lam is seeking to combine his party role with the state presidency, officials said, in a move that would align Vietnam’s political structure more closely to China’s, where President Xi Jinping (習近平) heads the party and state. Next week about 1,600 delegates are to gather in Hanoi to commence a week-long communist party congress, held every five years to select new leaders and set policy goals for the single-party state. Lam, 68, bade for both top positions at a party meeting last month, seeking initial party approval ahead of the congress, three people briefed by
Cambodia’s government on Wednesday said that it had arrested and extradited to China a tycoon who has been accused of running a huge online scam operation. The Cambodian Ministry of the Interior said that Prince Holding Group chairman Chen Zhi (陳志) and two other Chinese citizens were arrested and extradited on Tuesday at the request of Chinese authorities. Chen formerly had dual nationality, but his Cambodian citizenship was revoked last month, the ministry said. US prosecutors in October last year brought conspiracy charges against Chen, alleging that he had been the mastermind behind a multinational cyberfraud network, used his other businesses to launder
RSS