Amid tensions in the South China Sea between the United States and China, satellite images reportedly showed a Chinese nuclear-powered attack submarine stationed at Yulin naval base near the South China Sea.

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Images captured by satellite and published by Radio Free Asia showed a Type 093, Shang class submarine docked at the entrance of a concealed bunker on the southern Chinese island province of Hainan on August 18.

Two tugboats were also visible alongside the submarine near the South China Sea. Last month China had conducted a naval exercise in the South China Sea. China used H-6G and H-6J jet bombers in a high-intensity training with landing, long-range assault and attacks on sea targets.

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China has been locked in a cold war with Southeast Asian nations who claim parts of the island on the South China Sea which are rich in oil and gas deposits. The United States has said China’s claim over the island is “illegal”. The US regularly conducted “freedom of navigation operations” in the South China Sea infuriating China.

Australia too has rejected China’s territorial claims in the South China Sea saying that it has “no legal basis”. China, however, claims almost all of the South China Sea belongs to it based on a so-called nine-dash line, based on maps from the 1940s.

China’s state-run news agency Xinhua had said earlier reported that Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe had told US Defense Secretary Mark Esper to “stop erroneous words and deeds” and “avoid taking dangerous moves that may escalate the situation,” referring directly to Taiwan and the South China Sea.