Hybrid warfare? China sabotaging Baltic Sea cables would be ‘super surprising’, experts say
A Chinese vessel has sparked major interest after it was tracked travelling near the two internet cables that were mysteriously severed on the bottom of the Baltic Sea in recent days. While it remains unclear whether the incidents were accidental or intentional, experts say that the notion that China would support its ally Russia by conducting hybrid war operations in this part of the world would be more than surprising.
On Sunday, at around 10am local time, a fibre-optic undersea cable connecting Sweden and Lithuania was cut. Just hours later, at around 4am local time the next day, a second cable linking two more NATO countries – this time Finland and Germany – was damaged.
The countries affected by the disruptions were quick to react, with Germany’s Defence Minister Boris Pistorius even going so far as to say that “nobody believes” that the incident was “accidental”.
"We have to conclude, without knowing exactly who did it, that it is a hybrid action and we also have to assume – without knowing it – that it is sabotage," he told reporters in Brussels Tuesday, without providing any proof for his claims.
Almost immediately, the four countries launched investigations into the suspicious cable cuts, and attention soon turned to the vessels that had been navigating in the area. One of them drew particular interest: the Chinese-flagged Yi Peng 3.
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