A US nuclear attack submarine collided with an unknown object on Oct 2 in the South China Sea. The US Navy reported the incident 5 days after the collision, announcing that the nuclear propulsion system of the submarine was not affected. Besides that, no further details were provided.
Led by the UK’s Carrier Strike Group 21, the US and its allies have been obsessed with showing their military muscle in the region. With the AUKUS Pact being announced, the tension surrounding the Indo-Pacific has intensified.
A US navy vessel (Photo: Xinhua)
“I think that what we’re starting to see here is some of the same kind of activity we saw in Europe during the Cold War,” Andrew Mycock, co-author of The Anglosphere and Reader in politics at the University of Huddersfield, told GDToday & Newsgd.com. “There are symbols of authority and strength, which are clearly a part of power politics.”
Andrew added that “the Anglosphere has always been about power in many senses in that there’s been a focus on the idea that the English speaking world has a dominant role globally”.
A Chinese military spokesperson on Tuesday urged the United States to clarify the incident, and to cease conducting the so-called “freedom of navigation” operations in the South China Sea.
On Oct 11, Chinese Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Zhao Lijian also urged the US to clarify the incident in specific details with regard to the exact location, its navigation intention, the crash’s impact on the area’s navigation safety and fishery, as well as whether a nuclear leak or damage to local marine environment was caused.
“The US has long been making trouble in the South China Sea in the name of ‘freedom of navigation’,” said Zhao. “This is the root cause of this incident.”
Author | Lydia Liu
Video | Axin
Editor | Keane, Jerry