China denied request to board ship linked to severed undersea cables, says Sweden

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 having pledged "cooperation" with regional authorities.

- Miranda Bryant

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 two fibre-optic cables - one between Sweden and Lithuania and the other linking Helsinki and Germany - at about the time that they were cut on 17 and 18 November in Swedish territorial waters close to the islands of Gotland and Öland.

Then, for more than a month it was anchored in the Kattegat strait between Sweden and Denmark. It was 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. Yesterday China confirmed the ship had left to "ensure the physical and mental wellbeing of the crew".

The Swedish foreign minister, Maria Malmer Stenergard, said yesterday that China had not cooperated with Sweden's request to allow prosecutors onboard.