China’s first domestically built aircraft carrier yesterday sailed into Hong Kong, just days after the territory marked 28 years under Chinese rule.
The Shandong, measuring more than 300m and commissioned in 2019, is China’s second carrier and is central to its regional ambitions under Chinese President Xi Jinping (息近平), who has overseen a massive naval buildup that has rattled Asian neighbors.
Beijing has said the Shandong and its escort vessels, which include the destroyers Zhanjiang and Yanan, and the frigate Yuncheng, are to visit Hong Kong for five days and host “tours and cultural exchange activities.”
Photo: Reuters
The Shandong’s visit came days after it concluded combat drills in the western Pacific alongside China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning.
It anchored at the western edge of Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour while the escorts berthed at the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) naval base on Stonecutters Island on the northern side of the famous waterway.
Hong Kong Chief Executive John Lee (李家超) said at a welcoming ceremony that the visit would let the public “experience the magnificence and sophistication of the country’s modern warships.”
The PLA Navy “not only protects national sovereignty, security and territorial integrity, but is also an important force for regional peace and stability,” Lee said.
The Shandong and the Liaoning are both of a modified Soviet design, with J-15 fighter jets and helicopters yesterday visible on the Shandong’s distinctive “ski jump” deck.
China’s third and more advanced carrier, the Fujian, is undergoing sea trials.
Tickets to visit the vessels in Hong Kong were snapped up within minutes on social media app WeChat.
Crowds flocked to the waterfront and nearby hillsides yesterday morning to catch a glimpse of the vessels.
The Shandong is the second Chinese aircraft carrier to visit Hong Kong, following a 2017 visit by the Liaoning.
“The idea appears to be to impress upon the Hong Kong public ... the ruling [Chinese Communist Party’s] quest for building what’s termed as the status of a maritime great power,” said Collin Koh (高瑞連), a naval affairs specialist at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
Chong Ja Ian (莊嘉穎) of the National University of Singapore said China’s latest exercises suggest “both aircraft carriers are ready to engage in more sophisticated operations,” but some unknowns remain, including the operational tempo they can bear.
The Shandong was reportedly present in Philippine waters in April during a joint US-Philippines military exercise, deepening tensions between Manila and Beijing over disputed territorial claims in the South China Sea.
In that same month, the vessel also took part in drills testing the PLA Navy’s ability to “blockade” Taiwan, China’s Eastern Theater Command said.
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