China’s third aircraft carrier entered service this week, state media reported yesterday, marking a key milestone in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) drive to modernize the military.
The Fujian joins China’s fleet as Beijing projects its maritime power against the US and others in the region, with flashpoints including territorial disputes in the South China Sea and persisting claims over Taiwan.
The latest aircraft carrier is equipped with an electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS) — something that previously only the USS Gerald R. Ford possessed.
Photo: AFP / Chinese Ministry of National Defense
The advanced takeoff system allows the Chinese air force to deploy jets carrying larger payloads and more fuel.
Xinhua yesterday reported that Xi had “personally decided” that the Fujian would adopt EMALS.
Analysts say China lags behind the US, which has 11 aircraft carriers in service, in overall military prowess, but Beijing has directed billions of dollars into defense spending, a trend that has unnerved some governments in East Asia despite China insisting its aims are peaceful.
The navy in particular has seen a massive expansion as leaders seek to grow China’s reach in the Pacific and challenge a US-led alliance.
The new carrier’s official commissioning took place at a naval port in Hainan Province on Wednesday, Xinhua reported, describing the atmosphere as “grand and enthusiastic.”
“After the ceremony, Xi Jinping boarded the Fujian ... and learned about the development of the aircraft carrier system combat capabilities, and the construction and application of the electromagnetic catapult system,” it said.
Xi also went into the carrier’s control tower to learn about flight operations, Xinhua said, adding that he “solemnly signed the ship’s logbook.”
After conducting sea trials, the Fujian joins China’s other two aircraft carriers in active operation, the Liaoning and the Shandong.
The Soviet-built Liaoning is the oldest, commissioned in 2012, while the Shandong entered service in 2019.
China’s third carrier is “by many measures more capable than the Liaoning and the Shandong,” said Collin Koh (許瑞麟), an expert in regional naval affairs at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.
“Overall, compared to the two preceding carriers which are ski-jump configured, the Fujian has greater combat persistence and striking power,” Koh said.
The Fujian had already been in the spotlight leading up to its formal commissioning.
Chinese defense officials in September said that the Fujian had sailed through the Taiwan Strait to carry out “scientific research trials and training missions” in the South China Sea.
The defense ministries in Taiwan and Japan at the time said that they had detected the Fujian’s movements, which brought it within approximately 200km of the disputed Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台).
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Taiwan’s economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter, as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove a surge in exports, spilling over into investment and consumption, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. GDP growth was 13.69 percent year-on-year during the January-to-March period, beating the DGBAS’ February forecast by 2.23 percentage points and marking the most robust growth in nearly four decades, DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei. The result was powered by exports, which remain the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Chiang said. Outbound shipments jumped 51.12 percent year-on-year to
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
RSS