China demands details on US nuclear-powered submarine collision

TASS News Agency: According to the US Navy statement on October 2, US Navy nuclear-powered submarine USS Connecticut was damaged after it struck an unknown object while submerged in the waters of the Indo-Pacific region. According to media reports, the incident occurred in the waters of the South China Sea. Do you have any comments on this? Zhao Lijian: We are gravely concerned about the incident. As the party involved, the US should clarify in specific details what happened, including the exact location of the incident, the US side’s navigation intention, the details of the incident, the object the submarine struck, whether the collision caused a nuclear leak or damaged local marine environment, etc. I would also like to stress three points about the incident. First, the US has long been making trouble in the South China Sea in the name of “freedom of navigation“, which poses a grave threat and major risks for regional peace and stability. This is the root cause of this incident.