Glass houses and all of that:
China’s newest nuclear-powered attack submarine sank in the spring, a major setback for one of the country’s priority weapons programs, US officials said.
The episode, which Chinese authorities scrambled to cover up and hasn’t previously been disclosed, occurred at a shipyard near Wuhan in late May or early June.
…The Zhou-class vessel that sank is the first of a new class of Chinese nuclear-powered subs and features a distinctive X-shaped stern, which is designed to make the vessel more manoeuverable.
The sub was built by China State Shipbuilding Corp, a state-owned company, and was observed alongside a pier on the Yangtze River in late May when it was undergoing its final equipping before going to sea.
After the sinking, large floating cranes arrived in early June to salvage the sub from the river bed, according to satellite photos of the site.
So it sank at the port. Hardly sea trials or combat maneuvers.
Given Australia is inept in everything bar corporate gouging and real estate ponziteering, I humbly suggest schadenfreude is unwise as we await our nuclear subs in 50, 49, 48….years…
Let alone an entire nuclear industry that, more than likely, will melt down to the planet’s core on its way to China.
At least that way we’ll contribute to global freedom, accidentally:
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says Australia has “a lot at stake” and “a lot to gain” when it comes to the engagement and stabilisation of the relationship with China.
We have a lot more to lose if China gets its nuclear subs working.
