Sweden Says China Denied Request For Prosecutors To Board Ship Linked To Severed Cables (theguardian.com) 24
Sweden has accused China of denying a request for Swedish prosecutors to board a Chinese ship that has been linked to the cutting of two undersea cables in the Baltic despite Beijing pledging "cooperation" with regional authorities. From a report: The Yi Peng 3 left the waters it had been anchored in since last month on Saturday -- despite an ongoing investigation. The ship was tracked sailing over the two fibre-optic cables, one between Sweden and Lithuania, and the other linking Helsinki and Germany, at around the time that they were cut on 17 and 18 November in Swedish territorial waters close to the Swedish islands of Gotland and Oland.
For more than a month afterwards it was anchored in the Kattegat strait between Sweden and Denmark where it was being observed by multiple countries and was boarded by Swedish police and other authorities last week. The ship tracking site VesselFinder showed the Yi Peng 3 heading north out of the strait on Saturday and on Monday China confirmed the ship had left in order to "ensure the physical and mental wellbeing of the crew." The Swedish foreign minister, Maria Malmer Stenergard, said on Monday that China had not cooperated with Sweden's request to allow Swedish prosecutors onboard.
For more than a month afterwards it was anchored in the Kattegat strait between Sweden and Denmark where it was being observed by multiple countries and was boarded by Swedish police and other authorities last week. The ship tracking site VesselFinder showed the Yi Peng 3 heading north out of the strait on Saturday and on Monday China confirmed the ship had left in order to "ensure the physical and mental wellbeing of the crew." The Swedish foreign minister, Maria Malmer Stenergard, said on Monday that China had not cooperated with Sweden's request to allow Swedish prosecutors onboard.
ah yes (Score:5, Insightful)
the old "China doesn't have to accede to anyone's rules. bullies never change.
Re: ah yes (Score:1, Insightful)
Ah yes, like the Hague Invasion Act? Or does that fall under the "It's OK when WE do it!" doctrine?
Re: (Score:3)
Ah yes, like the Hague Invasion Act? Or does that fall under the "It's OK when WE do it!" doctrine?
Given you apparently believe that is an apt comparison - you're stating that the ship's crew were Chinese military personnel acting under orders from the Chinese government?
Re: (Score:2)
Re:ah yes (Score:5, Informative)
The rules are that it's international waters. There's an argument to be made that UNCLOS 101(a)(ii) applies, but actually boarding and arresting them ... that requires a little creative interpretation of international "law", too creative for pussies.
China follows the rule of common sense. Swedes won't do shit, just sail home.
Fry says.... (Score:2)
I'm shocked, SHOCKED! Well, not that shocked.
Ship was - was not boarded ? (Score:2)
“The Yi Peng 3
Re: (Score:2)
Although I live in Sweden, I have no particular interest in this matter, and have not read any more about it than the headlines in newspapers. I may therefore be wrong.
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would only let Swedish police board the ship,
... those authorities have no crime-fighting function.
I guess there's a lot I don't understand about Swedish police. In the USA, police definitely have a crime fighting function. Second only to their doughnut eating function.
A cargo ship, not a Navy vessel (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
It is a known incompetence for ships to not pull up their anchor properly, dragging it potentially hundreds of miles.
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Wasting thousands of dollars in fuel, while wondering why the ship is going so slow?
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Pretty much. Though the ship going slow may be blamed on the wind or current. Like I said, incompetence.
Like how on land backhoes automatically seek out fiber and other buried communication lines.
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Dragging something?
An anchor, yes.
Who knows. I don't. You don't. And we never will. It's Chinese. They don't take responsibility for things. Not that anyone else is all that eager to take responsibility either.
And why should they? We're the fools that spread our legs for the Chinese. That's not changing anytime soon. Certainly not for a couple damaged cables to a couple powerless little Europeans nations. So fuck it. Enjoy your brave new world.
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It's Chinese. They don't take responsibility for things.
Just lucky it was cables and not a pedestrian. Or the ship would have backed up and taken another run at them.
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Perhaps.. they should at least physically prevent their ships when detained from being physically capable of leaving until they cooperate, however.
Guilty (Score:2)
What were they expecting to find? (Score:2)
Could someone explain what the purpose of boarding the ship in the first place? I can't think of any kind of evidence lying around that would prove they cut the cable.
Neal Stephenson describe in his essay how undersea cables were cut by parties unknown to obtain samples of the repeater nodes used so they could be reverse engineered. Finding one of those would be pretty conclusive, but that's not the type of event they are trying to solve here.
It is more than likely the ship is guilty based on other e
Re: (Score:3)
Finding a Chinese military officer or known spy onboard might be what they were looking for. Or equipment specifically useful for locating or tapping the cable (maybe destroying the cable was to cover an unsuccessful tapping attempt...)
Maybe it was just to officially communicate with the captain why his ship was being blocked from leaving.
Whatever it was, I doubt it was, "create an international incident for shits and giggles".
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I'd have left behind some shaped charges against the hull.
For shits and giggles.
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They know they cut the cable.. the question is If the circumstances under which they caused the damage make them criminally and or civilly liable.
Should have been impounded. (Score:2)
Sweden should have impounded the ship and taken the crew into custody for questioning. China's continuous bullshit is supported by a system that depends on good faith efforts by governments.