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China launched its largest and most cutting-edge aircraft carrier on Friday, according to state broadcaster CCTV, the first nationwide ship designed and built and a symbol of the country’s expanding military power.
At a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai, officials unveiled the Type 003 warship. Fujian, which officials say was not ready for battle for five years, it is an important milestone in Beijing ‘s ambitions to develop a “blue water” navy capable of projecting power far beyond its shores.
The carrier has been the focus of intense interest among military observers and rival nations following the development of the Chinese navy. China’s top two carriers include a modification of an old Soviet model, the Liaoning, purchased in Ukraine in 1998, and the Shandong, which was built in China but based on the Liaoning model and commissioned in 2019. .
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It is the first Chinese carrier equipped with an electromagnetic catapult to launch aircraft, including those with a heavier payload, faster and more efficiently. The technology surpasses the “ski jump” setup to launch planes across a ramp at the end of a runway used on the other two carriers in China.
“Fujian brings a whole new level of capability to the table compared to Liaoning and Shandong,” said Collin Koh, a naval expert on the People’s Liberation Army at the S. School of International Studies. Rajaratnam of Singapore.
Although Chinese military analysts and blocs have hailed the carrier as “China’s response to the USS Gerald R. Ford,” commissioned in 2017, many of its capabilities are still unknown. The Ford was the largest and most advanced carrier in the world when it was built.
“There is extremely little information coming out about Fujian and therefore the PLA Navy’s transportation program. Its exact capabilities and performance are shrouded in secrecy,” Koh said. in the People’s Liberation Army.
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The launch of China’s most advanced carrier comes amid rising tensions in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, where China and its neighbors have competing territorial claims. The recent signing of a security agreement between China and the Solomon Islands and the opening of a naval facility in Cambodia have raised concerns about Beijing’s reach in the Gulf of Thailand and the South Pacific.
The carrier is named after the Chinese province opposite Taiwan.
Lyric Li in Seoul and Vic Chiang in Taipei contributed to this report.