Gas pipe | China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs to HS about the ship incident: “China maintains smooth communication with Finland”

Beijing

“China maintain smooth communication with Finland in the case you mentioned.”

That’s what the spokesperson answered Mao Ning Helsingin Sanomat’s question at the Chinese Foreign Ministry’s daily press conference in Beijing. He referred to investigations into the role of the Chinese container ship Newnew Polar Bear in the rupture of the Gulf of Finland gas pipeline.

According to Mao, China is ready to provide assistance to the Finnish authorities within the framework defined by international law.

“The case is still under investigation, and we hope that the relevant parties will observe objectivity and impartiality, and find the truth as quickly as possible,” Mao added.

This is a very usual statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on all questions related to international investigations.

With his answer, Mao sidestepped the questions actually posed by HS.

The questions were: How do you comment on the current results of the studies? Have the Chinese authorities been able to talk to the ship’s captain and the rest of the crew? Does the Chinese government have anything to do with the ship in question or the case of the broken gas pipeline?

This kind of evasion of questions often happens at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ press conference. It may be that China does not want to cause either international or domestic turmoil with its answers. It could also be that the administration is trying to find out what has happened and how the events should be handled, and it doesn’t want to take a definite position on anything yet.

Finland The Central Criminal Police announced on Tuesday that an anchor had been found near the gas pipeline that broke in the Gulf of Finland on October 8, with long drag marks on the bottom. So it seems that the anchor dragged behind the ship broke the pipe.

The movements of the Newnew Polar Bear passing between China and Russia match the place and time of the damage. According to KRP, the ship now also seems to be missing one anchor.

Krp is now focusing on investigating whether the act was intentional or due to negligence.

Newnew Polar Bear did not respond when Finnish authorities tried to contact it while it was still in the Baltic Sea. Now the ship operating between China and Russia is on the Northeast Passage.

Newnew The shipping company of Polar Bear seems to be privately owned in China through various business chains.

However, it is common knowledge that Chinese companies must act according to the orders of their country’s authorities, if there are orders. That is why the Chinese state wants to haunt the background of various speculations, whether there is a reason for it or not.

There is no evidence of China’s involvement in the Gulf of Finland pipeline break, and it is suddenly difficult to come up with a motive for this.

KRP has said that it is cooperating with the Chinese authorities, among other things, to find out the background of the shipping company.