China mum on submarine incident, pundits see emergency
China remained silent Wednesday over whether an unidentified submarine that intruded into Japanese waters was a Chinese nuclear submarine as suspected, while pundits said that if it was, it could be a sign of some kind of an emergency.
Meanwhile, a rumor swirled of the sinking of a Chinese submarine in Japanese waters, although that has yet to be confirmed and whether that was linked in anyway to the incident off Japan remains unclear.
As of Wednesday evening, the Chinese Foreign Ministry has not responded to a request for comment on the incident that prompted Japan to order its Maritime Self-Defense Force to take security action for only the second time.
The Japanese government has said the submarine's country of origin is still unknown, but Defense Agency sources said it was possibly a Chinese nuclear sub.
A diplomat in Beijing knowledgeable about defense issues said that if it was indeed a Chinese submarine that intruded into Japanese waters, it was likely to be a sign of some sort of an emergency.
"Given the area involved, it is unlikely to be part of a normal operation," the diplomat said, but also added the possibility of the activities being linked to intelligence gathering or maritime research cannot be ruled out.
A separate source said there was talk of the sinking of a submarine of the same class as one that was involved in an accident in 2003.
The source said that even if that did take place, China was unlikely to disclose such an incident given the question of intrusion into Japanese waters.
In May 2003, all 70 sailors on board were killed in the accident aboard a 1,584-ton Ming-class diesel-powered submarine during a military exercise in the Yellow Sea.
While any connection with the incident is unclear, MSDF officers said in Japan that two Chinese Navy vessels have been spotted operating in waters southeast of Tanegashima Island since Friday.
The two -- one a submarine rescue vessel and another used for towing ships -- were observed repeatedly changing course and speed on Monday in waters some 315 kilometers southeast of the island but headed toward the East China Sea on Tuesday, they said.作者: 一朵云 时间: 2004-11-11 16:21:25
