China’s ‘accidental’ damage to Baltic pipeline viewed with suspicion

FILE - The Finnish Border Guard's offshore vessel Turva patrols on Oct. 11, 2023, near the location where the Balticconnector gas pipeline was damaged in the Gulf of Finland. (Finish Border Guard via AFP)

Western officials and analysts are suspicious of Beijing’s admission this week that a Chinese container ship damaged the Balticconnector — a vital Baltic Sea gas pipeline linking Estonia and Finland — in October.