Analyst Doubts China’s Role In Cutting Baltic Undersea Cables

European intelligence officials have accused the crew of a Chinese ship, Yi Peng 3, of deliberately sabotaging undersea cables in the Baltic Sea.

If China were directly involved in the sabotage of undersea cables in the Baltic Sea, it would mark a significant escalation in its willingness to conduct sabotage operations on behalf of Russia.

The ship is now surrounded by European vessels in international waters, and Sweden has formally requested clarification from China regarding the incident, according to James Palmer's report in Foreign Policy's China Brief.

Palmer notes that such clarity is unlikely to be forthcoming.

Elisabeth Braw, a security expert, highlighted last month that determining the ship’s involvement will be challenging.

The Yi Peng 3 is a commercial vessel transporting Russian fertilizer, and if its crew were involved in severing the cables, it might have been an independent operation financed by Russian intelligence rather than a state-sanctioned Chinese action.

If China were directly involved, it would mark a significant escalation in its willingness to conduct sabotage operations on behalf of Russia.

However, the incident could also have been a test: Taiwan, for instance, relies on 15 undersea cables for its global digital connectivity. China has already carried out smaller-scale sabotage operations in Taiwan's outlying regions, such as isolating the Matsu islands.