China launches new conventional submarine

[ErnstBlofeld]

Radio Australia:

Regional anxieties about China's naval expansion are likely to be fuelled by confirmation that it's launched a new type of conventional submarine.

Already, several Asian nations are buying their own submarines in response to China's build-up. The Chinese purchase has been confirmed by the publication Janes Navy International. Aerial surveillance images from August also show a new pier under construction at China's naval base on Hainan island in the highly contested South China Sea possibly to accomodate new submarines, according to experts. The news comes as vessels from China's PLA-Navy are touring the Pacific currently visiting Australia. Russell Smith is a former Australian defence attache in China, who's now director of Asia defence and security for the research firm I-H-S, which includes Janes.