China News Service, Beijing, October 8 (Reporter Huang Yuqin) In response to reports that a US nuclear submarine collided with an unidentified object in the South China Sea recently, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Zhao Lijian responded at a regular press conference on the 8th, saying that the Chinese side said this. The accident expressed serious concern, and the United States, as the party concerned, should clarify the circumstances of the accident in detail.
A reporter asked a question. According to reports, a US nuclear submarine collided with an unknown object in the South China Sea on October 2. What's China’s comment?
Zhao Lijian said that China is seriously concerned about the accident.
As the party concerned, the United States should clarify in detail the relevant circumstances of the accident, including the specific location of the accident, the intention of the U.S. navigation, the details of the accident, what the collision was, whether it caused a nuclear leak, whether it damaged the local marine environment, and so on.
Zhao Lijian emphasized that first, the United States has been making waves in the South China Sea under the banner of freedom of navigation for a long time. This is the root cause of the accident and poses a serious threat and a major risk to regional peace and stability.
“Secondly, the US intentionally delayed and concealed the details of the accident this time, lacking transparency and irresponsible.” Zhao Lijian said, “China and the neighboring countries in the South China Sea have to question the truth of the incident and the US intentions.”
He further stated that thirdly, the United States and the United Kingdom have recently decided to cooperate with Australia, a non-nuclear-weapon state, to carry out nuclear submarine cooperation and unscrupulously proliferate nuclear submarines to the Asia-Pacific region. This move will create a nuclear proliferation risk, induce an arms race, and undermine the construction of a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Southeast Asia. , The probability of a nuclear accident will also rise sharply.
Zhao Lijian pointed out that the United States should abandon the outdated Cold War zero-sum mentality and narrow geopolitical concepts, and stop this wrong approach that undermines regional peace, stability and development.
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