One former Chinese navy officer told The Epoch Times that there could be a connection between both incidents.
There were recent rumors that China’s Type 093 nuclear submarine exploded, resulting in the deaths of all officers and sailors on board. This was circulated on China’s heavily censored social media and on X, formerly Twitter.
Yao Cheng, a former lieutenant colonel in the Chinese navy, said in an interview with The Epoch Times on Sept. 15 that as far as he knew, the nuclear submarine indeed ran into trouble due to quality issues, but it was not a major incident, let alone an explosion.
If it was an explosion or the submarine sank, not only would the Chinese side send many salvage ships to the incident site, but other countries would also send several ships to carry out salvage tasks. This simply did not happen, Mr. Yao said.
Quality Issues Among China’s Nuclear Submarines
Zhang Youxia, vice chairman of the Central Military Commission, emphasized at a meeting in late August that the quality of China’s military equipment must be improved “in a way that is responsible for the lives of the officers and soldiers."Mr. Yao said the CCP's nuclear submarines are in trouble because they have significant quality issues. He said, "The Type 093 submarine is the second-generation nuclear submarine of the CCP, and its performance is quite poor."
Mr. Yao, who had strong ties with key individuals in the Chinese military, claimed that the submarine had technical issues during its training exercises.
He said: "I heard that there was a technical malfunction. They encountered issues with the air circulation system, endangering the lives of the sailors, but it was a normal training incident and not a full-on explosion."
Online reports also suggested that the nuclear submarine incident made the recently promoted CCP naval commander Wang Dazhong look incompetent and that he has been blamed for the alleged incident. However, Vice Adm. Wang reportedly blamed the incident on the submarine’s poor design and mechanical issues.
Crackdown on Military Corruption
Mr. Yao also told The Epoch Times that something significant must have happened to Defense Minister Li Shangfu, who has not been seen publicly for weeks.Mr. Yao further confirmed that paramount leader Xi had purged many people in the Chinese military’s Rocket Force.
He said: "The root cause of all the problems in the Rocket Force ultimately leads to the Equipment Development Department, which is being investigated for the quality of its products and the misuse of funds. Xi Jinping, who is preparing to overhaul the entire military in light of the Rocket Force’s corruption, now senses that the Chinese military has a significant corruption problem. So Xi Jinping has made up his mind to purge the system from the top."
The corruption investigation involves former Defense Minister Wei Fenghe, who has reportedly been "missing" for several months. He has not been seen in public since he was replaced in a reorganization of the CCP's State Council in March this year. The retired general served as the first commander of the Rocket Force from 2015 to 2017.
Mr. Yao suggested that Mr. Xi's grasp of power is being challenged by the “princelings” within the CCP, referring to the descendants of prominent and influential officials, who are the immediate beneficiaries of the CCP’s authoritarian rule. The princelings view Mr. Xi’s erratic policies as threatening the Party’s stability, potentially impacting their wealth and interests; thus, they seek to undermine Mr. Xi’s rule, Mr Yao said.
