Did China Really Lose a Nuclear Submarine?

No, military experts say. It’s fake news pushed by a U.K. tabloid and anti-China media

ONE OF THE CHALLENGES of reporting on China, for the media and intelligence agencies alike, is sifting through the constant river of mis- and disinformation stimulated by the habitual secrecy of the Chinese Communist Party and exacerbated by its most rabid enemies. 

The problem goes back to Mao’s time, when the country was basically  “closed” to all but friendly visitors. Despite its 1972 rapprochement with the United States, the practice has continued under successive leaders, more recently by China-sponsored foreign vloggers who strive to present a positive view of the People’s Republic, “telling China’s story well.” Likewise,  opponents of China never waste an opportunity to exaggerate Beijing’s problems, with some promoting conspiracy theories, a situation aggravated by the current leadership’s push to hinder or make illegal the gathering of even the most mundane of business and academic data.  

Now comes a series of reports, repeating articles last week from the UK tabloid the Daily Mail, saying a Chinese submarine crashed in the Yellow Sea on Aug. 21 with the loss of all 55 aboard. Citing “a secret UK report,” it identified the vessel as a type 093,  dubbed by NATO a “Shang class” submarine.

Military authorities privately say it’s fake news.

Type 093 nuclear-powered attack submarine. (Picture source: Weibo)

The Daily Mail, citing “intelligence reports,” did not name an exact location for the incident and noted that there was no independent confirmation available, but it said that 22 officers, 7 officer cadets, 9 petty officers, and 17 sailors died from an “onboard accident,” including the captain, who it identified as Col. Xue Yongpeng. It said the sub ran into an anchor-and-chain style “trap” used by the Chinese Navy to ensnare U.S. and its allies’ submersibles. Over a six hour period, the sub’s  battery and air treatment systems failed, it said, causing the asphyxiation of all aboard.

A second report from the tabloid on October 6 cited an unnamed “dissident” who claimed to have “an update from the Central Military Commission.” He claimed that the news of the sub’s fate had leaked to the British via an Apple Watch bugged by Britain’s MI6, and that this had led to an investigation by the Chinese side. 

Close observers cast doubt on the reports, largely ignored by mainstream U.S. media. For starters, the photos posted by the Daily Mail and Newsweek did not match their description of the vessel, according to Hans Kristensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project at the American Federation of Scientists.

“Rumors continue,” Kristensen wrote on X (formerly Twitter) “this time based on alleged UK intelligence report—that China lost a nuclear-powered attack submarine in the South China Sea. Note that it involves (if it happened) [it was] a 093 attack sub, not the 094 missile sub seen in some of the pics.”  

Referring to the anchor and chain trap, the military affairs author Iain Ballantyne commented that “this story, including [the] cause of the submarine crew's alleged demise, [has been] around for a while and surfaces every now & then. 

“Who knows?” he added. “The particulars explained here do not quite add up.”