China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian (福建), recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to carry out “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea, Chinese state media Xinhua reported today.
Cross-sea testing and training for the carrier is a regular arrangement in the the construction process, and is not aimed at any specific target, Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) spokesperson Leng Guowei (冷國偉) told Xinhua.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense late yesterday said that the Fujian entered the East China Sea, sailing southwest toward Taiwan, accompanied by two Chinese missile destroyers.
Photo: Xinhua via AP
The Ministry of National Defense said it has been monitoring the situation with joint intelligence surveillance and has taken appropriate measures.
First unveiled in 2022, China’s third aircraft carrier began sea trials last year and has yet to formally enter service.
The Fujian is about to officially enter service, and China’s era of three aircraft carriers is “around the corner,” China’s Global Times, a state-run tabloid, cited Chinese military affairs expert Zhang Junshe (張軍社) as saying.
The Fujian previously underwent sea trials in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea, the report said.
This training mission to the unfamiliar waters of the South China Sea serves as a comprehensive test and improvement of the carrier's long-distance navigation capabilities, adaptability to complex environments and the crew's coordination, Zhang told the Global Times.
The Shandong’s (山東) “development history” is to some extent a reference to that of the Fujian, Zhang told the paper.
China’s second aircraft carrier, the Shandong, passed through the Taiwan Strait to carry out scientific research testing and training missions in the South China Sea on Nov. 17, 2019, Xinhua reported.
It marked the second aircraft carrier’s first Taiwan Strait transit, and it was delivered to the PLAN a month later, the Global Times said.
Compared to China’s two operational aircraft carriers, the Liaoning (遼寧) and Shandong, the Fujian possesses stronger comprehensive combat capabilities, Zhang told the paper.
The Fujian, designed and built domestically, is larger and more advanced than the Shandong, commissioned in late 2019, and the Liaoning, which China bought secondhand from Ukraine in 1998.
With a flat deck, electro-maganetic catapults to launch aircraft and a full load displacement of more than 80,000 tonnes, the Fujian is expected to host a larger and wider range of planes than the other two carriers, including early-warning aircraft and — eventually — China's first carrier-capable stealth jet fighters, media reported.
After the launch of the Fujian in 2022, it carried out its first sea trial after leaving the Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard last year, the Global Times said.
Regional security analysts and military attaches are watching the Fujian's trials closely, in part to see how effectively China's navy can coordinate full-blown carrier operations with escort ships and submarines.
The sailing comes as US Marines and their Japanese counterparts stage a fortnight of exercises on Japan’s Okinawa with the Typhon missile system and other advanced anti-ship weapons.
The exercises are due to run until Sept. 25.
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