Last October, China admitted that a Chinese ship had damaged a gas pipeline running between Estonia and Finland in the Baltic Sea. According to Beijing, it was an accident caused by a strong storm. The pipeline is critical infrastructure for supplying energy to the region, and the damage has caused considerable concern among local governments and internationally.
After the incident, Chinese authorities conducted an internal investigation, the results of which were recently shared with the governments of European countries. The report, written in Chinese, claims that the damage to the gas pipeline was the result of natural circumstances, a powerful storm sweeping the Baltic Sea at the time.
However, this report, although circulated among various ministries, is not official evidence in the investigation conducted by Estonia and Finland. A spokeswoman for the Estonian prosecutor's office said the document had not been officially handed over to her office and, even if received, could not be used as evidence in a criminal investigation being conducted in Estonia.
Authorities in Estonia and Finland called on China to provide more information about the vessel involved in the incident and expressed concern about the lack of full transparency in the investigation. Official requests for more details remain unanswered.
