US Denies Coverup Over Sub Collision in South China Sea

The Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine USS Connecticut (SSN 22) departs Naval Base Kistap-Bremerton for deployment May 27, 2021.

China says the incident makes the international community 'more suspicious' of US intentions.

The United States is denying China’s accusation that it has been covering up a submarine collision that occurred earlier this month in the South China Sea.

On Monday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian called the delay in releasing information about the incident an “irresponsible attitude and stonewalling and cover-up practice.”

When asked about the Chinese spokesman’s statement on Tuesday, U.S Department of Defense press secretary John Kirby said: “It’s an odd way of covering something up when you put out a press release about it.”

Kirby did not provide any additional detail of the incident on Oct. 2, saying it is a Navy matter.

Five days after the event, on Oct. 7 the U.S. Pacific Fleet issued a statement saying the Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine USS Connecticut (SSN 22) struck an unknown object while operating in “international waters in the Indo-Pacific region,” but there were no life-threatening injuries to the sailors.

It added that the sub’s “nuclear propulsion plant and spaces were not affected and remain fully operational.”

The submarine arrived at Naval Base Guam on Friday where it would undergo an assessment and preliminary repairs while the Navy investigates the collision, according to Associated Press news agency.

Meanwhile, the South China Sea Probing Initiative, a Beijing-based think tank, said that based on satellite imagery, the USS Connecticut was spotted in waters off the Paracel islands on Oct. 3, one day after the reported collision.

It suggested that the U.S. submarine could have been “assigned to guard the (aircraft carrier) USS Carl Vinson or to spy on PLA's SSBNs” - Chinese army ballistic missile submarines.

While not commenting about the Chinese think tank’s suggestion, Rear Adm. James Goldrick, fellow at the naval research institute Sea Power Centre - Australia, said submarines have the right under the UN Law of the Sea to operate submerged anywhere in the seas outside the 12 nautical mile territorial limit of coastal states.

Sailors assigned to the Seawolf-class fast-attack submarine USS Connecticut (SSN 22) stand watch on the bridge after surfacing in the Arctic Circle during Ice Exercise (ICEX) March 7, 2020

China ramps up criticism

China has been vocal with its criticism of the delayed U.S. announcement of the incident, saying it only makes “the international community more suspicious of the U.S. intention.”

Beijing’s spokesman said the U.S. “should take a responsible attitude, give a detailed account of what happened as soon as possible and make a satisfactory explanation” of the incident’s location and whether it caused a nuclear leakage as well as marine pollution.

Alexander Neill, a defense and security consultant based in Singapore, said: “China is playing up the risks because of...

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