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New Chinese nuclear attack submarine sank, U.S. officials says
Satellite imagery showed that China’s newest nuclear-powered attack submarine sank alongside a pier while under construction, a senior U.S. military official said Thursday.
The sinking of China’s first Zhou-class submarine represents a setback for Beijing as it continues to build out the world’s largest navy. Beijing has become increasingly assertive in pursuing its claim to virtually the entire South China Sea, which is crucial to international trade.
Meanwhile, China faces longtime territorial disputes involving others in the region including Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam. The United States has sought to strengthen ties to its allies in the region and regularly sails through those waters in operations it says maintains the freedom of navigation for vessels there, angering Beijing.
The submarine likely sank between May and June, when satellite images showed cranes that would be necessary to lift it off the bottom of the river, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to provide details about the submarine loss.
Planet Labs PBC via AP
China has been building up its naval fleet at a breakneck pace, and the U.S. considers China’s rise one of its main future security concerns.
A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson said Friday he was not familiar with the topic and did not provide any information when asked about it at a Beijing press conference.
The U.S. official said it was “not surprising” that China’s navy would conceal it. The submarine’s current status is unknown.
The identification of the sunken nuclear submarine was first reported by The Wall Street Journal. Thomas Shugart, a former U.S. Navy submariner and an analyst at the Center for a New American Security, first noticed the incident involving the submarine in July, though it wasn’t publicly known at the time that it involved the new Zhou-class vessel.
Satellite images from Planet Labs PBC analyzed by The Associated Press show what appears to be a submarine docked at the Shuangliu shipyard on the Yangtze River before the incident.
An image taken June 15 appears to show the submarine either fully or partially submerged just under the river’s surface, with rescue equipment and cranes surrounding it. Booms surround it to prevent any oil or other leaks from the vessel.
A satellite image taken Aug. 25 shows a submarine back at the same dock as the submerged vessel. It’s not clear if it was the same one.
It remains unclear if the affected submarine had been loaded with nuclear fuel or if its reactor was operating at the time of the incident. However, there has been no reported release of radiation in the area in the time since.
China as of last year operated six nuclear-powered ballistic missile submarines, six nuclear-powered attack submarines and 48 diesel-powered attack submarines, according to a U.S. military report.
News of the submarine’s sinking comes as China this week conducted a rare launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile into international waters in the Pacific Ocean. Experts say it marked the first time Beijing had conducted such a test since 1980.
Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was in London this week to discuss progress made by the U.S., Britain and Australia toward their shared goal of deterring China’s increasingly assertive actions in the Indo-Pacific. The London summit is the third Defense Ministerial for the allies’ trilateral AUKUS partnership, and according to defense officials, it will see them look at the two key elements or pillars of their work together to increase security in the Indo-Pacific.
The first of those pillars is helping Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines, and the second is collaborating on emerging military capabilities.
Earlier this year, the partnership announced that Japan would work with AUKUS on maritime autonomy and, according to the official, there are also conversations with Canada, South Korea, and New Zealand about potential projects on emerging capabilities.
China has accused AUKUS of provoking a nuclear arms race and disrupting peace and security in the Indo-Pacific region.
contributed to this report.
Despite growing research that points to the negative health impacts of alcohol, many Americans are unaware of the connection between drinking and cancer risk.
A recent report from the American Association for Cancer Research found excessive levels of alcohol consumption increase the risk for six different types of cancer, including:
“Some of this is happening through chronic inflammation. We also know that alcohol changes the microbiome, so those are the bacteria that live in your gut, and that can also increase the risk,” Dr. Céline Gounder, CBS News medical contributor and editor-at-large for public health at KFF Health News, recently said on “CBS Mornings.”
But how much is too much when it comes to drinking? We asked experts what to know:
How much alcohol is bad for you?
“Excessive levels of alcohol” equates to about three or more drinks per day for women and four or more drinks per day for men, Gounder said.
According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, a standard alcoholic drink contains 14 grams (or 0.6 ounces) of pure alcohol. Generally, this amount is found in 12 ounces of beer, 5 ounces of wine and 1.5 ounces, or a “shot,” of 80-proof distilled spirits or liquor.
Other studies have shown, however, there is no “safe amount” of alcohol, Gounder said, particularly if you have underlying medical conditions.
“If you don’t drink, don’t start drinking. If you do drink, really try to keep it within moderation,” she said.
Dr. Amy Commander, medical director of the Mass General Cancer Center specializing in breast cancer, told CBS News alcohol is the third leading modifiable risk factor that can increase cancer risk after accounting for cigarette smoking and excess body weight.
“There really isn’t a safe amount of alcohol for consumption,” she said. “In fact, it’s best to not drink alcohol at all, but that is obviously hard for many people. So I think it’s really important for individuals to just be mindful of their alcohol consumption and certainly drink less.”
How else can alcohol affect your health?
The benefits of limiting alcohol is not just about cancer risk. Alcohol in large or frequent amounts is considered toxic to the human body, said Dr. Angela Tatiana Alistar, medical director of GI Medical Oncology at Morristown Medical Center, Atlantic Health System.
“All organs can be affected by alcohol intake depending on dose and frequency,” she told CBS News. “There is vast scientific literature regarding the impact of alcohol consumption on the liver described as hepatitis (in the acute form), liver cirrhosis (chronic form) and possible liver cancer.”
Drinking alcohol can also have direct and immediate effects on other organs like the brain, affecting the sleep-wake cycle.
“It can also affect cognition, coordination and emotional regulation,” Alistar said. “Acute and chronic dependence and tolerance to alcohol is a high-risk factor for social functioning and mental health.”
Is wine healthy?
Some studies have suggested health benefits from drinking red wine. Occasional wine is also a part of the Mediterranean diet, which is often praised for a reduction in mortality, heart disease and more. But, other research says any potential benefit doesn’t outweigh the risks.
“A glass of red wine is included in terms of the alcoholic beverages that one should be mindful of — beer, red wine, other spirits,” said Commander. “There’s been at times this health halo about red wine, but when it comes to cancer, it is still considered alcohol and it should be limited.”
But, doesn’t everything cause cancer anyway?
Commander admits cancers are complex with many factors that can contribute to someone’s risk — but, at the same time, we’re making strides in cure rates and early detection.
For example, the latest Cancer Progress Report found a 33% reduction in the overall cancer deaths from 1991 to 2021.
“So that is hopeful,” Commander said, adding alcohol is just “one piece of the puzzle” in prevention.
“There are so many aspects of our lifestyle that we should focus on in order to optimize our health, certainly to reduce our risk of cancer, but also other chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and other conditions that we face in this country,” she said.
Alistar recognizes social changes can be difficult when it comes to alcohol.
“Socializing with friends and family typically involves sharing food and drinks. Having open conversations about the impact of alcohol on general health with your family and friends would be a good way to start,” she said, but added “celebratory drinks or foods are OK in my opinion if most of the time one has a healthy diet and lifestyle.”
Other ways to decrease cancer risk
Reducing alcohol isn’t the only way to decrease your risk of cancer. There are several other modifiable risk factors that researchers found are linked to more than 40% of all cancer fatalities, including smoking, excess body weight, physical inactivity and diet.
Using sunscreen to prevent skin cancer and getting the HPV vaccine to prevent cervical cancer and oral cancer related to the human papillomavirus are other prevention measures, Gounder said.
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