China Covered Up Sinking Of Newest Cutting Edge Nuclear-Powered Submarine

A senior US defense official has said in a Wall Street Journal bombshell report that China’s newest highly touted and cutting edge nuclear-powered submarine has sank at a shipyard near Wuhan. It was to be the newest sub to join China’s fleet of six nuclear-powered attack subs.

The sinking, which reportedly occurred in either May or early summer, constitutes a serious setback for the People’s Liberation Army which has rapidly sought to expand its naval power and technology. President Xi has for years been overseeing a modernization of the PLA Navy.

The US official has further said China is seeking to cover up the incident. “It’s not surprising that the PLA Navy would try to conceal the fact that their new first-in-class nuclear-powered attack submarine sank pierside,” the senior US defense official, who remains anonymous, told the WSJ.

“In addition to the obvious questions about training standards and equipment quality, the incident raises deeper questions about the PLA’s internal accountability and oversight of China’s defense industry — which has long been plagued by corruption,” the official said.

Satellite photos by Planet Labs appear to confirm that the submarine sank. The WSJ report details further, “The Zhou-class vessel that sank is the first of a new class of Chinese nuclear-powered subs and features a distinctive X-shaped stern, which is designed to make the vessel more maneuverable.”

“The sub was built by China State Shipbuilding Corp., a state-owned company, and was observed alongside a pier on the Yangtze River in late May when it was undergoing its final equipping before going to sea,” the report continues.