There are unconfirmed rumors that a Chinese nuclear submarine suffered an “accident” in the Taiwan Strait, which separates Taiwan from mainline China.
The chatter comes after Beijing launched military drills around the island in a “stern warning” to Taipei and Washington, Newsweek reported.
Citing online reports, the news outlet said there are claims that one of China’s Type 093, or “Shang-class,” nuclear submarines “had crashed in unknown circumstances at some point in the past few days. Some of the reports claimed the entire crew onboard the vessel had been killed.”
More from Newsweek:
There has been no official confirmation of a Chinese submarine running into difficulty in the contentious strait, and experts have been hesitant to speculate. The topic was not mentioned in a press briefing from China’s Defense Ministry on Tuesday and has not appeared in any state news agencies’ reports.
Officials in Taipei did not confirm the reports. In remarks carried by Taiwanese news outlets on Tuesday, a spokesperson for Taipei’s Defense Ministry said during a regular press briefing that the island’s military and government had not detected any evidence of a submarine crash and could not substantiate the reports.
At the same time, naval expert and analyst H I Sutton warned social media users to treat the topic “with caution,” saying he has “not seen any convincing evidence to support rumors.”
The warning came after he deleted an earlier post about a missing Chinese submarine, because of all the attention it was receiving:
**UPDATE**
I deleted the post re-reported missing #Chinese submarine.
So far not seen any convincing evidence to support rumors, and too much weight is being placed on my posts (despite my caveats)
Treat topic with caution ⚠️
Awaiting credible info #OSINT pic.twitter.com/yo0hBY8rfa
— H I Sutton (@CovertShores) August 22, 2023
Another tweet from News 27 Brigade claims that a Chinese rescue ship was spotted and that the accident took place in the Yellow Sea, not the Taiwan Strait.
That tweet translates as such: “Taiwan Regional Security Bulletin According to the ship information information provided by friends, there is a rescue ship ‘Nanhai Rescue 112’ belonging to the South China Sea Rescue Bureau of the Ministry of Transport of China in the northwest of Dongsha Island, and other tugboats are heading north near the rescue ship. According to new news, the accident took place in the Yellow Sea, not the Taiwan Strait, which may be the mission location of the People’s Liberation Army.”
台灣區域安全通報
據友站提供的船舶情報資訊，有艘隸屬中國交通運輸部南海救助局「南海救112」救難船在東沙島西北方，另有其他拖船在該救難船附近北上，而根據新消息稱，事故發生地點在黃海海域，非台灣海峽，台灣海峽可能是解放軍的任務地點 pic.twitter.com/J6CPC3dRPg— 新‧二七部隊 軍事雜談 (New 27 Brigade) (@new27brigade) August 22, 2023
People were certainly stirred by the reports/rumors, and Sutton was hit with blowback… here’s a quick sampling of responses to the story as seen on “X,” formerly known as Twitter:
Yeah made me uncomfortable. My caveats get missed by people who want a certain outcome I guess
— H I Sutton (@CovertShores) August 22, 2023
You set Taiwan’s media abuzz by tweeting a rumor with no evidence or source. Even Taiwan’s Ministry of National Defense was questioned about it at a regular press conference this morning.
A lot of us wasted our time and attention on a tweet based on a rumor.
Caveats my …
— Phillip Charlier (@phillipcharlier) August 22, 2023
If it did happen, the chinese would keep it very very quiet, so the question is really, where did the rumours start?
— Nick Hamilton (@nbhamilt) August 22, 2023
Please no worries about that tweet, Mr. Sutton. You posted it with all necessary cautions. Let’s rather see what will be made public … or maybe not, of what might have happened in the Yellow Sea. All the best!
— Truls Meland (@Still_Fast) August 22, 2023
Writers and editors can be contacted at [email protected] with feedback, tips, or corrections.
Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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