Naming ceremony of China’s new aircraft carrier “Fujian” in Shanghai – (AFP)
With colorful ribbons, champagne, flares and patriotic messages, China launched its third aircraft carrier on Friday. The Fujian – the most advanced of the three and with its own design and manufacture – makes the Asian giant the second largest country in the world for the number of these types of ships in service, behind only the United States, which has 11. Beijing It thus replaces the United Kingdom, which previously took second place for this type of ship.
The ship’s launch marks another step in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s plans to have modern armed forces capable of winning battles against any other rival, one of the goals he has prioritized during his ten-year tenure Has. Since taking office in 2012, he has been taking steps to abandon a traditional land defense model based more on large numbers of soldiers in favor of missile technology, the air force and, most importantly, a powerful fleet that operates in deep water.
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The importance of the launch was highlighted by the presence of General Xu Qinliang, vice president of the Central Military Commission and the highest-ranking commander in China’s military hierarchy, only behind Xi himself. With him, hundreds of Navy sailors lined up for the naming ceremony at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai Port. Banners on the deck reproduced official mottos, including “Do not forget the original mission” (of the Communist Party) and “Always keep military discipline in mind”.
Everything about this ship’s existence represents a message at a time when tensions with the United States are raging, the Xi government is asserting its territorial claims in the South China Sea, and Beijing is increasing pressure on Taiwan. Even the name of the ship is significant. Fujian is the Chinese province off the waters of Taiwan, the island that Beijing considers an inalienable part of its territory and will not renounce to violence to unify. It is also the province where the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern Command has its base of operations.
The all-new aircraft carrier features a number of technical innovations compared to its predecessors, the Liaoning, launched in 2011 – a ship purchased and modernized in Ukraine in 1998 – and the Shandong, launched in 2019. Although the latter is built entirely in China, its design was based on that of the Liaoning.
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The Fujian is equipped with a large runway and the first of its kind in China to feature a catapult launch platform similar to that used by US ships. With this upgrade you can launch more different aircraft types faster and with more ammo. According to the state news agency Xinhua, his equipment also includes monitoring systems.
According to Xinhua, the ship is displacing more than 80,000 tons. The American study center CSIS calculated a length of 315 meters last year using satellite images. It must go through a series of tests before it goes live, which can take months or even years. Its immediate predecessor went live in 2017, but it wasn’t fully operational until 2019.
China’s People’s Liberation Army plans to have up to six operational aircraft carriers by 2035. Like the Liaoning and the Shandong, the Fujian will use conventional engines to propel itself, although CSIS experts believe Beijing will eventually develop nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. “Such a move would put China on a par with the United States and France, the only two countries that have nuclear-powered aircraft carriers to date,” the think tank says.
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