Source: Global Times - Global Network
In response to the US delay in elaborating on the accident of nuclear submarines in the South China Sea, Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian said again on the 26th that the US side, as a party concerned, has the responsibility and obligation to elaborate on the relevant situation of the incident and respond to the concerns and doubts of regional countries and the international community. Liu Lin, an expert at the Academy of Military Sciences, believes that the US military's delay in disclosing the submarine collision incident lies in hiding the truth that it threatens China's sovereignty and security and undermines regional peace.
On October 2, the U.S. Navy's USS Connecticut submarine hit an unknown object while diving in the South China Sea, causing some damage and some injuries. On the 11th, Zhao Lijian urged the US side to make a detailed explanation of the recent nuclear submarine accident as soon as possible and give a satisfactory explanation to the international community and regional countries. On the 19th, Ministry of National Defense spokesman Tan Kefei said in response to a reporter's question that china expressed serious concern about the incident and asked the US side to clarify. As a party, the United States has the responsibility and obligation to give a detailed account of the circumstances of the incident. On the 26th, Zhao Lijian once again asked the United States to explain the collision, and Zhao Lijian pointed out that China and other coastal countries have reasons to ask the United States to answer: What task is it to perform this time to send nuclear submarines to quietly dive in the South China Sea? What exactly did you crash into this time? Why did it collide? Did it cause a nuclear leak that would bring nuclear pollution to the marine environment?
Satellite photo of the USS Connecticut docked at the docks of Guam
During the expert video conference of the Beijing Xiangshan Forum, Liu Lin, an associate researcher at the Academy of Military Sciences, told the Global Times that the reasons for the US military's reluctance to disclose the nuclear submarine collision incident are threefold, first of all, the collision of nuclear submarines in the United States and the establishment of a trilateral security partnership between the United States, Britain and Australia, and the development of nuclear submarine cooperation are almost at the same time, which is a sensitive time point. The cooperation between the United States, Britain, and Australia in nuclear submarines has aroused great concern and concern among The neighboring countries of Australia. After all, nuclear-powered submarines are a way of nuclear military use, the sensitivity is very high, and under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, reactors in nuclear-powered submarines are not regulated by the International Atomic Energy Agency during military use, and it is doubtful whether Australia has access to relevant nuclear technology in the process. More and more nuclear submarines entering the waters of Southeast Asia will not only induce an arms race, but also undermine the construction of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Southeast Asia, and the probability of nuclear accidents and even nuclear leaks will also rise, bringing severe challenges to regional peace and security. The COLLISION accident of the US nuclear submarine happened at this time, which increased the doubts of neighboring countries.
Second, the site of the US nuclear submarine accident is in the waters of the South China Sea, and for a long time, the United States has made waves in the South China Sea under the banner of "freedom of navigation", and if the results of the investigation of the incident are made public, the us may expose the tracks of the US military's operations in the South China Sea, and the United States wants to hide the truth that it threatens China's sovereignty and security and undermines regional peace. It is precisely for this reason that the US military has a high degree of secrecy about the operation and deployment of submarines in the South China Sea and will not be easily announced to the public. "If it were not for the collision accident, the US submarine would have to float forward, and the US side would not have announced the collision accident of the nuclear submarine."
Third, the U.S. military also has a concern that the truth will damage the reputation of the United States as the world's number one military power. Therefore, Liu Lin said that even if the United States publishes the investigation report on the nuclear submarine collision accident in the future, it will be different from inside and outside, and the content of the external announcement may be relatively limited. "This kind of vague and obscure practice of the United States has forced regional countries and the international community to question the truth of the incident and the intentions of the United States."