The Global Times launched a joint signature: asking the United States to publish the truth about the accident in the South China Sea of nuclear submarines

Source: Global Times

On October 26, the Global Times launched a joint signature through the Internet (click link: https://vote.huanqiu.com/m/ participated in the joint signature), demanding that the US military and the US government adopt a responsible attitude and publish the truth about the incident in which the US Navy's nuclear submarine "Connecticut" collided with "an object" in the South China Sea earlier this month, and give the international community a due account. As of the evening of the 26th, nearly 200,000 netizens have participated in the joint signature. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian stressed at a press conference on the 26th that the South China Sea is the common home of regional countries and should not become a hunting ground for the United States to seek geopolitical self-interest. The United States frequently and on a large scale dispatches warships and warplanes to the South China Sea to provoke and provoke, show off force, undermine freedom of navigation in the South China Sea, and threaten the sovereignty and security of China and other countries. The United States is the biggest driver of militarization in the South China Sea. The US side should change course, stop the above-mentioned erroneous acts, and play a positive role in peace and stability in the South China Sea.

On October 7, the U.S. Navy announced that its Seawolf-class nuclear submarine Connecticut had hit "an object" while diving in the South China Sea on the 2nd of that month, injuring more than a dozen crew members and partially damaging the hull. The announcement has aroused the attention and questioning of the international community. However, the US military has not yet disclosed the specific location of the impact, what kind of object it hit, and other basic information, and the US side has not given any information on whether the impact has caused damage to the marine ecological environment in the waters, whether it has a negative impact on the safety of navigation in the region and whether it has a negative impact on fishing operations.

A large number of public information shows that in recent years, the US warships and submarines have created many accidents in the South China Sea that seriously endanger navigation safety in the name of "freedom of navigation", often colliding with various objects or civilian vessels, seriously threatening the safety of people and property and the ecological environment in this area.

In a joint signature launched by the Global Times, it said that the impact exposed a large number of unknown covert activities of the US military in addition to the public display of force in the South China Sea. These activities are by no means "harmless", but pose a threat to regional peace and stability that is not necessarily understood. The U.S. military must disclose the truth about the impact of the Connecticut, and the neighboring countries in the South China Sea have the right to know about them. As the Global Times editorial put it: "It is necessary for the international community to set rules for the actions of the US Navy, which must first be properly disclosed and stop black-box operations on major issues that threaten the security of other countries." ”

The US military website The Drive "Warzone" column published an article on the 22nd, revealing a satellite picture showing that the "Connecticut" is currently docked at a guam dock, or is being evaluated and repaired. The U.S. Navy remains silent about what the nuclear submarine hit in the South China Sea and the damage it caused.

Zhao Lijian said on the 26th that the Chinese side has repeatedly expressed serious concerns about the relevant incidents and asked the US side to clarify. Until today, however, all we have seen is a brief, vague statement by the U.S. military that has been delayed for a long time, and the U.S. side has confirmed through sources that the site of the incident was in the South China Sea. This irresponsible and cover-up approach has forced regional countries and the international community to question the truth of the incident and the intentions of the UNITED States. China and other countries bordering the South China Sea have reason to ask the United States to answer: What is the mission of sending nuclear submarines to quietly dive in the South China Sea this time? 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? As a party, the United States has the responsibility and obligation to elaborate on the situation related to the incident and respond to the concerns and concerns of regional countries and the international community.