China seeks to project power far beyond its coast with the new Fujian aircraft carrier

By DAVID RISING Associated Press BANGKOK AP China has commissioned its latest aircraft carrier after extensive sea trials state media revealed Friday adding a ship that experts say will help what is already the world s largest navy expand its power farther beyond its own waters In this photo issued by Xinhua News Agency Chinese President Xi Jinping center poses for a group photo with pilots and crew members on the flight deck of the Fujian aircraft carrier unit after attending the commissioning and flag-presenting ceremony of the aircraft carrier at a naval port in Sanya southern China s Hainan Province on Wednesday Nov Li Gang Xinhua via AP In this photo published by Xinhua News Agency a commissioning and flag-presenting ceremony of the Fujian China s third aircraft carrier and the first that it has both designed and built itself equipped with electromagnetic catapults seen on right at a naval port in Sanya city in southern China s Hainan Province on Wednesday Nov Li Gang Xinhua via AP In this undated file photo disclosed by Xinhua News Agency crew members work on carrier-based aircraft from left J- T jet fighter KJ- AWACS and J- stealth fighter jet on the flight deck of China s third conventionally powered aircraft carrier the Fujian as they conduct the electromagnetic catapult-assisted takeoff and arrested landing trainings on the aircraft carrier during a maiden sea trial Li Tang Xinhua via AP file In this Oct satellite photo from Planet Labs PBC the Chinese aircraft carriers Shandong and Fujian are seen at the Yulin Naval Base near Sanya China Planet Labs PBC via AP Show Caption of In this photo distributed by Xinhua News Agency Chinese President Xi Jinping center poses for a group photo with pilots and crew members on the flight deck of the Fujian aircraft carrier unit after attending the commissioning and flag-presenting ceremony of the aircraft carrier at a naval port in Sanya southern China s Hainan Province on Wednesday Nov Li Gang Xinhua via AP Expand The official Xinhua news agency stated the Fujian had been commissioned Wednesday at a naval base on southern China s Hainan island in a ceremony attended by top leader Xi Jinping The Fujian is China s third carrier and the first that it both designed and built itself It is perhaps the greater part visible example so far of Xi s massive military overhaul and expansion that aims to have a modernized force by and one that is world class by mid century which most of take to mean capable of going toe-to-toe with the United States With it Beijing takes another step toward closing the gap with the U S Navy and its carrier fleet and architecture of bases that allow it to maintain a presence around the world Carriers are key to Chinese leadership s vision of China as a great power with a blue-water navy or one that can project power far from its coastal waters announced Greg Poling director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies China wants to contest waters as far as Guam For China s navy one goal is to dominate the near waters of the South China Sea East China Sea and Yellow Sea around the so-called First Island Chain which runs south through Japan Taiwan and the Philippines But deeper into the Pacific it also wants to be able to contest control of the Second Island Chain where the U S has essential military facilities on Guam and elsewhere Poling reported A carrier doesn t really help you in the First Island Chain but it s key to that contest if you want one with the Americans in the wider Indo-Pacific Poling announced China s increasingly capable military and ability to project power globally is one of the reasons the Pentagon in its latest description to Congress continued to call it the only competitor to the United States with the intent and increasingly the limit to reshape the international order At the same time it is Beijing s right to transform its navy into a blue-water strategic navy commensurate with China s national strength noted Song Zhongping a Hong Kong-based military affairs expert China s carriers cannot just operate near home they must operate in the distant oceans and far seas to carry out various training and aid missions Song declared China is a great power and our overseas interests span the globe we need to be globally present Related Articles In current times in History November first woman elected to Congress An American man and his son die after suffering stings from a swarm of wasps while ziplining in Laos Musk could become history s first trillionaire as Tesla shareholders approve giant pay package A new system to identify and take down Russian drones is being deployed to NATO s eastern flank Ukraine says it has hit a major Russian oil refinery with long-range drones News that the Fujian had been commissioned was met with wariness in nearby Japan Minoru Kihara a former defense minister and now chief cabinet secretary in Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi s new leadership mentioned it underscores that China is extensively and rapidly strengthening its military power without transparency We believe that China s military intends to advance its operational capability at distant sea and air by strengthening sea power he notified reporters emphasizing that Japan was watching China s military activity and would calmly but decisively respond if necessary One possibility that raises concerns in foreign capitals is a attainable Chinese blockade or invasion of the democratically self-governed island of Taiwan which China proposes as its own territory and which leader Xi Jinping has not ruled out taking by force Though the island sits right off of China s coast if China had the ability to position an aircraft carrier group or groups around the Second Island Chain between Taiwan and the U S Pacific Fleet headquarters in Hawaii that could delay workable American military assistance in the event of a Chinese attack They want those aircraft carriers to play a part in kind of extending the strategic perimeter farther out from China and one of the critical things that an aircraft carrier can do is extend the range of China s domain awareness to keep an eye on exercises in the air on the sea and below the sea explained Brian Hart deputy director of CSIS s China Power Project With the Fujian China s warplanes can deploy far from its shores China s first aircraft carrier the Liaoning was Soviet made and its second the Shandong was built in China but based on the Soviet model Both use older-style ski-jump type systems to help planes take flight The Fujian skips past the steam catapult machinery used on majority of American carriers to employ an electromagnetic launch system determined only on the latest U S Navy Ford-class carriers The system causes less stress to the aircraft and the ship allows for more precise control over speed and can launch a wider range of aircraft than the steam system Compared to the ski-jump system it gives China the ability to launch heavier aircraft with full fuel loads like the KJ- early warning and control plane which it successfully tested during its sea trials Its latest J- stealth fighter and J- T heavy fighter were also launched from the Fujian giving the new carrier full-deck operation capability according to the Chinese navy The ability to carry its own reconnaissance aircraft means unlike its first two carriers it won t be operating blind when out of the range of land-based encouragement giving it the ability to operate its majority advanced aircraft far afield including the Second Island Chain The Fujian carrier is a big leapfrog for China in terms of the capabilities of its aircraft carriers compared to the first two Hart reported China s carriers aren t nuclear powered limiting their range Still Hart noted China s navy lags behind the U S in several key methods Numerically it only has three carriers compared to the U S Navy s and while China s carriers are all conventionally powered the U S s are all nuclear powered which means they can operate almost indefinitely without being refueled dramatically increasing their range The Ford-class carrier of which only one is right now in amenity but more are being built is also larger can carry more aircraft on its flight deck and has a third elevator that means it can move more aircraft from lower deck hangars in less time China also lags behind the U S in guided missile cruisers and destroyers which are critical in providing air and submarine defense and advocacy for larger naval groups as well as nuclear-powered submarines The U S is also ahead in vertical launching system cells basically the systems for holding and launching missiles from ships which is a measure of how much firepower vessels can carry though China is increasing that quota Hart disclosed Beyond just equipment China lacks the framework of overseas bases that the U S has which are critical for resupplying carriers and also providing alternative runways should aircraft not be able to return safely to the carrier China is working on expanding its foreign bases however and has a nuclear propulsion system for a carrier in expansion There s also evidence that China is already building another carrier Chinese shipyards have the capabilities to build more than one at once and have also been churning out other new vessels at a pace the U S can t at present come close to matching Really across the board China s closing the gap Hart stated They re fielding and building more aircraft carriers they re fielding more nuclear-powered subs they are fielding more larger destroyers and other vessels that carry a larger number of missiles So they re really catching up The Fujian is just one of China s latest military assets China has happily shown off its new military assets releasing video of the KJ- J- and J- T test flights from the Fujian A World War II Preeminence Day parade at the start of September showcased all three aircraft along with hypersonic glide vehicles whose high-speed maneuverability and other attributes make them more complex to intercept than traditional ballistic missiles aerial and underwater drones and electronic warfare systems Sophisticated new equipment does not necessarily translate to military readiness however disclosed Singapore-based analyst Tang Meng Kit who noted that China hasn t fought a war since and that the methodically choreographed parade was good at amplifying perceptions of strength It is achievable that China s capabilities are overstated as real-world operational readiness lags behind its showcased arsenal he recounted the AP He also cautioned in a newest analysis for the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore that it would be a mistake to see China s military modernization as solely geared toward a attainable Taiwan invasion which he noted is only one part of a larger mosaic The parade signaled China s broader strategic intent which is to deter major powers pressure regional actors expand its global influence and reinforce its domestic legitimacy he revealed Albee Zhang in Washington and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this analysis