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China's new nuclear submarine sinks during construction

2024-09-27 09:00:00, Kosova & Bota CNA
China's new nuclear submarine sinks during construction
This satellite photo from Planet Labs shows what appears to be a sunken Chinese submarine at a shipyard in Wuhan, China, June 15, 2024. Source: AP

Satellite images have shown that China's newest nuclear attack submarine has sunk during construction, a US Defense official said on Thursday.

For China, the sinking of the first Zhou-class submarine represents a setback as Beijing seeks to build the world's largest navy. Beijing has shown great confidence in its claims to have sole control over the entire South China Sea, which is key to international trade.

Meanwhile, China faces bitter territorial disputes with other countries in the region, including Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam.

The United States aims to strengthen ties with its allies in the region and regularly sails in those waters in operations it says preserve freedom of navigation for ships there, angering Beijing.

The submarine likely sank between May and June, when satellite images showed cranes that would have been needed to retrieve it from the bottom of the river, said the US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

China is rapidly building its navy. The US views the rise of China as the biggest concern for its future security.

The Chinese embassy in Washington said Thursday that it was "not aware of the situation" and had no information to offer.

The US official said it was "no surprise" that the Chinese navy would keep this failure a secret.

News of the submarine's sinking comes a week after China launched a rare intercontinental ballistic missile into international waters in the Pacific Ocean.

Experts say that this was the first test that Beijing has conducted since 1980./ REL





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