China's New Nuclear Submarine Sank, US Officials Confirm (image @CaptCoronado)
China’s newest state-of-the-art nuclear submarine sank, said America. Reportedly, the incident last May or June at the Wuchang shipyard near Wuhan, the city where the Covid-19 pandemic is believed to have originated. The matter came to light with the help of satellite images, even though China tried to stage a cover-up.
Speaking to Reuters, US defence official said that the Zhou-class vessel – first of a new kind of Chinese submarines and distinctive for its X-shaped stern that aids manoeuvrability – is believed to have been next to a pier when it sank.
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Details regarding the casualties, or if the submarine had any nuclear fuel onboard at the time is not known. The Wall Street Journal said experts deemed it likely that the ship had nuclear fuel onboard. Though the ship was salvaged, it is believed that it will take months before it became fit to put to sea.
According to The Guardian, the American officials have no indication that the Chinese authorities have checked the water or nearby environment for radiation. The report said the People’s Liberation Army (PLA), official name of the Chinese armed forces, did not show acknowledgment of the incident.
According to Wall Street Journal, the first indication that something unusual had occurred were noted in summer when Thomas Shugart, a senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security and a former US submarine officer, noted irregular activity of floating cranes – which he had seen on satellite images – on social media. He suggested that there may have been an accident involving a submarine but did not know that it was a nuclear submarine.
Chinese Embassy spokesperson on Washington said they do not have information to provide. “We are not familiar with the situation you mentioned and currently have no information to provide,” the official told Reuters.
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As per a Pentagon report on China’s military, as of 2022, China had six nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, six nuclear-powered attack submarines and 48 diesel-powered attack submarines.
The US defence department said Beijing’s submarine force is expected to grow to 65 in 2025, and 80 by 2035.
The Pentagon said the motive behind bolstering submarine forces, along with surface ships and naval aircraft, is to counteract the US moves to come to Taiwan’s aid in a conflict and establish “maritime superiority” in a string of islands stretching from the Japanese archipelago to the South China Sea.
