On July 12, 2024, the Maritime Safety Administration of China posted a message on its website stating that there are four shipwrecks in the Beibu Gulf area, advising all vessels to be cautious. According to the coordinates published by the Basi Maritime Safety Administration, the location is within the waters of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China, near the Beibu Gulf. This seemingly casual announcement appears to conceal something more significant.
The day before, on July 11, 2024, China’s North Sea Fleet released a video about making “kou shui ji” (a spicy chicken dish) and pinned a comment saying, “The chicken made the first move.” Analysts believe the implication is clear, as a certain country’s nickname is “chicken with a basin on its head” (a derogatory term for Japan). This has been linked to the incident on July 4, 2024, when the Japanese destroyer JS Suzutsuki intruded into China’s territorial waters in Zhejiang Province, East China.
But one incident happened near China’s southern territorial waters close to Vietnam, while the other was in the East China Sea. What is the connection between these events? Conspiracy theorists have pieced together recent online information to draw the following conclusions:
1. A Japanese submarine, due to GPS signal interference, lost its way and had to move closer to the Chinese mainland to receive signals, eventually running aground in the Beibu Gulf after hitting an underwater mountain (similar to an incident involving a US submarine).
2. The submarine sent out a distress signal, and 2-3 submarines or warships were dispatched for rescue, possibly accompanied by vessels from other countries, all of which lost their way.
3. Japan made the first move, and the Chinese defense forces retaliated, resulting in the publication of the coordinates of the four shipwrecks.
4. The announcement was made at 9:18 am, a time symbolically significant to all Chinese, referencing the Mukden Incident (918 Incident).
5. It is rare for the Chinese military to award a collective first-class merit to a division or army during peacetime (referring to the 92950 unit’s first-class merit), something not seen since the Korean War. In recent years, only brigade-level units have received such honors.
6. The awarded unit is alive and well, indicating an exceptionally outstanding military achievement, comparable to the status of the “Ten Thousand Years Army” (the 38th Army, known for its achievements during the Korean War).
7. The shipwrecks’ locations are too close to the Hainan aircraft carrier base, only 60-70 nautical miles away. It is unlikely that Chinese military exercises would destroy sea routes within their own navigation paths.
8. Even during exercises, target practice wouldn’t be conducted so close to home. Any military expert knows that using one or two ships as targets is normal, but using four at once is unprecedented. Even if they did, two or three should be in the Xisha or Nansha Islands as targets since encircling and attacking reinforcements is a mandatory lesson.
9. The combat capability of the Chinese aircraft carrier fleet should not be underestimated, with China’s electronic and electromagnetic technology leading the world.
10. The Chinese Ministry of National Defense and Ministry of Foreign Affairs have repeatedly warned Japan not to intervene in the Taiwan issue, not to foster bloc confrontation, not to get involved in the South China Sea dispute, and not to repeat the mistakes of militarism. Whether Japan has heeded these warnings will be evident from its recent actions.
The above still does not seem to explain the interrelation of these events. However, these conspiracy theories stem from China’s usual discreet approach to handling military-related incidents.
Whenever China has any military friction with foreign countries, it is typically the party that releases information later. For example, during the Sino-Indian border clash in the Galwan Valley on June 15, 2020, although many of the reports from India appeared to be media fabrications or official exaggerations, China’s information release was noticeably delayed, with details such as casualties only vaguely suggested after India had made its announcements.