China on Thursday urged the US side to stop "close-in reconnaissance, interference, provocation and show of force" in the Asia-Pacific region.
Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson, Senior Colonel Wu Qian made this remark at a press conference when being asked to comment on the US military's actions to hold officials accountable for the USS Connecticut nuclear submarine collision and dismiss the submarine's commanding officers.
Wu said that, since the collision occurred, the US side's awkward and secretive attitude has inevitably raised doubts in the international community. "The US side should answer three questions clearly. First, what's the intention of the US submarine's navigation? Second, what's the exact location of the collision? Finally, did it cause nuclear leakage or marine environmental pollution?" according to the official Chinese Military news media center.
Wu said that China believes the root causes of this incident are the extensive and high-intensity close-in reconnaissance, interference, provocation and show of force made by the US military vessels in the Asia-Pacific region, as well as the US "militarization and navigation hegemony" in the South China Sea.
"We urge the US side to stop such activities immediately, so as to avoid beating its head against the wall," Wu said.
Last month, US Navy nuclear-powered attack submarine --USS Connecticut --collided with an unknown submerged object last Saturday while travelling through international waters in the Pacific Ocean.
The accident happened amid rising tensions between the US and China over the Chinese military's incursions into Taiwan's Air Defense Integration Zone (ADIZ).
Media reports said that Connecticut was operating in the waters around the South China Sea as the US and its allies have been carrying out a major multinational show of force in the region, known as Carrier Strike Group 21.
( With inputs from ANI )
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