Chinese nuclear attack submarine sank during construction, US official says

WASHINGTON — 

Satellite imagery showed that China’s newest nuclear-powered onslaught submarine sank alongside a pier portion nether construction, a elder U.S. defence authoritative said Thursday.

The sinking of China's archetypal Zhou-class submarine represents a setback for Beijing arsenic it continues to physique retired the world's largest navy. Beijing has go progressively assertive successful pursuing its assertion to virtually the full South China Sea, which is important to planetary trade.

Meanwhile, China faces longtime territorial disputes involving others successful the portion including Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. The United States has sought to fortify ties to its allies successful the portion and regularly sails done those waters successful operations it says maintains the state of navigation for vessels there, angering Beijing.

The submarine apt sank betwixt May and June, erstwhile outer images showed cranes that would beryllium indispensable to assistance it disconnected the bottommost of the river, said the official, who spoke connected information of anonymity to supply details astir the submarine loss.

China has been gathering up its naval fleet astatine a breakneck pace, and the U.S. considers China’s emergence 1 of its main aboriginal information concerns.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday helium was not acquainted with the taxable and did not supply immoderate accusation erstwhile asked astir it astatine a Beijing property conference.

The U.S. authoritative said it was “not surprising” that China's navy would conceal it. The submarine's existent presumption is unknown.

The recognition of the sunken atomic submarine was archetypal reported by The Wall Street Journal. Thomas Shugart, a erstwhile U.S. Navy submariner and an expert astatine the Center for a New American Security, archetypal noticed the incidental involving the submarine successful July, though it wasn’t publically known astatine the clip that it progressive the caller Zhou-class vessel.

Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press amusement what appears to beryllium a submarine docked astatine the Shuangliu shipyard connected the Yangtze River earlier the incident.

An representation taken June 15 appears to amusement the submarine either afloat oregon partially submerged conscionable nether the river’s surface, with rescue instrumentality and cranes surrounding it. Booms situation it to forestall immoderate lipid oregon different leaks from the vessel.

A outer representation taken August 25 shows a submarine backmost astatine the aforesaid dock arsenic the submerged vessel. It's not wide if it was the aforesaid one.

It remains unclear if the affected submarine had been loaded with atomic substance oregon if its reactor was operating astatine the clip of the incident. However, determination has been nary reported merchandise of radiation successful the country successful the clip since.

China arsenic of past twelvemonth operated six nuclear-powered ballistic rocket submarines, six nuclear-powered onslaught submarines and 48 diesel-powered onslaught submarines, according to a U.S. subject report.

News of the submarine's sinking comes arsenic China this week conducted a uncommon motorboat of an intercontinental ballistic rocket into planetary waters successful the Pacific Ocean. Experts accidental it marked the archetypal clip Beijing had conducted specified a trial since 1980.