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What's US hiding about its nuclear submarine collision?

核潜艇碰撞事故,美方到底想遮掩什么?

来源:China Military Online 责任编辑:Xu Yi
2021-10-21 15:55:54

■钧声

By Jun Sheng

据媒体报道,美国太平洋舰队在10月2日核潜艇碰撞事故发生后,刻意拖延和隐瞒事故详情,5天后才向外界发表了一份语焉不详的声明。在这篇姗姗来迟的声明中,美方依然不愿向外界说明碰撞事故发生的具体地点,只是给出了“印度洋-太平洋地区国际水域”这样一个模糊的表述。此后,美海军官员匿名向美海军学会新闻网站证实,碰撞发生区域为南海。那么,美国到底想掩饰些什么?

After its Pacific Fleet’s nuclear submarine had a collision incident on October 2, the US deliberately hid the details and only come up with a vague statement until five days later, in which the US side blurred the specific location of the incident by referring to “international waters in the Indo-Pacific region”. Later, a US naval official told USNI News, on condition of anonymity, that the collision took place in the South China Sea.

What is the US trying to hide?

意在掩饰“搬起石头砸自己脚”的尴尬

The US is trying to cover up its embarrassment of shooting itself in the foot

长期以来,美国打着“航行和飞越自由”的旗号,频繁在南海炫耀武力。事实上,在中国和东盟国家的共同努力下,南海局势近来趋缓降温,并不断呈现积极发展态势,海上航道也一直保持着畅通安全。美方所谓“航行和飞越自由”,实质上是美国凭借强大海上力量挑战他国权益的幌子,是美国用围堵、遏制的霸道方法维持自身霸权、打击对手的手段,是被国际社会所唾弃和不齿的“横行自由”。明眼人一望可知,美国才是南海“军事化”的最大推手,才是破坏南海和平稳定的“麻烦制造者”。

For a long time, the US has been frequently flexing its muscles in the South China Sea in the name of “freedom of navigation and over flight”. Actually, the South China Sea situation has cooled down and displayed positive signs of development in recent years thanks to the common efforts of China and ASEAN countries, and the maritime routes are all kept clear and secure.

The so-called “freedom of navigation and overflight” is nothing but an excuse for the US, leveraged on its superior maritime force, to challenge the rights and interests of other countries, a means to maintain its hegemony and counter rivals through containment and suppression, and a bullying trick condemned by the international community.

It’s clear at one sight that the US is the arch driver of South China Sea “militarization” and the “trouble maker” that destroys peace and stability in the South China Sea.

再次表明在军事透明度的问题上,其自身才是站在道德洼地

The US is standing at moral lowland regarding military transparency

长久以来,美国总是对别国正常的军费开支、军事活动和科技发展等指手画脚、横加指责。然而,反观美国自身,近年来其军费开支屡创纪录,同时大力发展先进武器装备、组建进攻性网络战部队、不断加快太空军事化步伐……在军事领域频频上演大动作,却不见美方向世界作出合理的解释说明。更令人费解的是,美国近期在新冠病毒溯源问题上一再鼓吹对别国实验室进行调查。可事实上,美国才是世界上生物军事化活动最多、最不透明的国家。此次事故后,美方信息披露迟缓、表述前后不一,这种不负责任的态度更令国际社会对美方意图和事故细节产生怀疑。

The US has had a long-term habit of pointing fingers at other countries’ normal military spending, military activities, and scientific and technological development, while its own military expenditure has set new records constantly in recent years while the country itself is busy developing advanced weapons and equipment, forming aggressive cyber forces, and taking quicker steps to militarize the space, for which it has never given any reasonable explanations.

What’s more puzzling is that the US has been clamoring for investigations into the lab in other countries for the origin tracing of coronavirus, while it is the very country that conducts the most military biological activities with the least transparency.

After the latest nuclear submarine collision, the US side was late in disclosing relevant information and its statements were inconsistent. Such irresponsible attitude only makes the international community more suspicious of the US intention and details of the accident.

再次暴露了美方行径对国际核安全的危害,凸显了国际社会共同维护核安全的紧迫性

The incident exposes how America’s acts endanger international nuclear security and highlights how urgent it is for the international community to jointly preserve nuclear security

回顾历史,美国在核安全问题上是极不负责任的国家。美国是五核国中唯一拒绝批准《南太平洋无核区条约》议定书的国家。根据公开资料,1946年至1958年间,美国在马绍尔群岛进行67次核武器试验。1946年至1982年,美英等国还向太平洋、大西洋倾倒大量核废料。美更是“不远万里”,把在内华达州核试验后的130吨核污染土运送到马绍尔群岛倾倒。不久前,美英决定支持澳大利亚海军建立核潜艇部队,澳方将与美英合作在澳建造核潜艇。此举严重违反《不扩散核武器条约》精神,冲击国际核不扩散体系,破坏东南亚无核区建设,给地区和平安全带来严峻挑战。

The US has historically been an extremely irresponsible country when it comes to nuclear security. It is the only one of the five nuclear states that has refused to approve the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty. Public information shows that from 1946 to 1958, the US conducted 67 nuclear weapon tests at the Marshall Islands; from 1946 to 1982, the US and the UK dumped huge amounts of nuclear wastes into the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. America even transported 130 tons of nuclear-contaminated soil resulting from nuclear tests from Nevada to the Marshall Islands and dumped it there. Not long ago, the US and the UK decided to support the Australian Navy to build a nuclear submarine force, and the three countries will cooperate in manufacturing nuclear submarines in Australia. This move seriously violates the spirit of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, sends shock waves through the international non-proliferation system, and destroys the efforts to create a nuclear-free zone in Southeast Asia, bringing grave challenges to regional peace and security.

“康涅狄格”号核潜艇碰撞事故再次表明,美国才是国际核安全的最大风险源、南海地区安全的最大祸源、世界和平与地区安全的最大破坏者。这次事故的根源,在于美国对全球霸权、单边主义的执迷。事故有没有造成核泄漏、破坏海洋环境?会不会影响事发海域的航行安全、渔业作业?这些问题,美国有必要、有责任、有义务向世界解释清楚。

The collision incident of the USS Connecticut indicates again that the US is the biggest source of risks to international nuclear security, the biggest scourge for security in the South China Sea, and the biggest destroyer of world peace and regional security. The root cause for the incident is America’s obsession with global hegemony and unilateralism.

Did the collision cause a nuclear leak or damage the local marine environment? Will this incident impact the navigation safety and fishery in the area where it took place? It is incumbent on the US to give clear and definite answers to these questions and explain them to the world.