According to the foreign minister, China declined the request for a prosecutor to investigate onboard the Yi Peng 3, which went across cables.
The foreign minister says China declined the request for a prosecutor to investigate onboard the Yi Peng 3, which sailed Sweden has accused China of refusing to allow Swedish prosecutors to board a Chinese ship suspected of cutting two undersea cables in the Baltic, despite Beijing’s promise of “cooperation” with regional authorities.
The Yi Peng 3 left the waters where it had been anchored since last month on Saturday, despite a continuing inquiry.
The ship was monitored cruising over two fiber-optic cables, one between Sweden and Lithuania and the other joining Helsinki and Germany, at around the time they were cut on 17 and 18 November in Swedish territorial seas near the Swedish islands of Gotland and Öland.R Cables.
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For more than a month, it was anchored in the Kattegat strait between Sweden and Denmark, where several countries monitored it before Swedish police and other officials boarded it last week. On Saturday, the ship tracking site VesselFinder showed the Yi Peng 3 sailing north out of the strait, and China said the ship had left on Monday to “ensure the physical and mental well-being of the crew.”
Sweden’s foreign minister, Maria Malmer Stenergard, said on Monday that China had refused to allow Swedish prosecutors on board.
She said: “Swedish police have been onboard and attended as an observer in connection with the Chinese investigation.” “The state’s accident commission took part in its role as the accident investigation authority. At the same time, I can note that China has not listened to our request for the prosecutor to be able to conduct a preliminary investigation onboard.
“Our request that Swedish prosecutors, together with the police and others, be allowed to take certain investigative measures within the framework of the investigation on board remains. We have been clear with China on this.”
Stenergard stated that while she anticipated conversations between Sweden and China to continue “at various levels,” it was up to the prosecutor to determine what investigative actions should be taken.
She added, “We have great respect for the preliminary investigation being conducted independently, and we are still waiting for its findings.” “I assume we will have continued talks with China about the matter, at different levels, to continue to make our argument and to work for the police and prosecutor to have the conditions to investigate what has happened.”
Earlier Monday, China committed to cooperating with regional authorities about the ship.
Mao Ning, a foreign ministry spokesperson, told AFP, “The shipowner company, after a comprehensive evaluation and consultation with relevant parties, decided to resume operations.” “China has notified all relevant countries in advance. China is willing to maintain communication and cooperation with the countries involved to advance the follow-up handling of the incident.”
Some European officials fear the cables were damaged as part of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The Kremlin has dismissed the charges as “absurd” and “laughable.”
Swedish, German, and Finnish officials and a Danish delegate were invited aboard the Yi Peng 3 on Thursday as part of a Chinese-led inquiry. However, the Swedish prosecutor, who is leading a European inquiry, was not allowed to enter the vessel.
At the end of last month, Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson stated that Swedish officials had issued a formal request to China for help in the suspected sabotage and were seeking “clarity” from China on what had happened to the cables.
He said, “Today, I can tell you that we have additionally sent a formal request to work with Swedish authorities to get clarity about what has happened.” “We expect China will choose to work together as we have requested.”
