The Chinese flag can be seen in this illustration taken on May 30, 2022. REUTERS / Dado Ruvic / Illustration
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BEIJING, June 17 (Reuters) – China launched its third aircraft carrier on Friday, the interior-designed and built Fujian, named after a province against self-governing Taiwan, sending a statement of intent to rivals as it modernizes its army.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has made the review of the world’s largest armed forces a central part of his agenda, seeking to project power far beyond China’s shores, although the government says it has no hostile intentions.
Champagne, colored ribbons, water cannons and smoke were placed to celebrate the launch of the new carrier and the official name during a ceremony at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai, state media reported.
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Dozens of naval officers lined up in front of the ship and sang the national anthem at a ceremony attended by senior officials, including Xu Qiliang, deputy chairman of the Central Military Commission.
The aircraft carrier has a full-length flight cabin with a catapult launch system, according to state media.
Fujian will join Shandong, commissioned in late 2019, and Liaoning, which China bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998 and refitted the domestic market.
China is still improving its ability to manage carriers and integrate them into battle groups, something the United States has been doing for decades.
Only the United States, with 11 aircraft carriers, has more ships. Arranged just below China, Britain has two actors.
The Fujian launch demonstrates the growing capacity of the military at a time of growing tensions with the United States over Taiwan’s claims to China and Beijing’s claims to the South China Sea.
The new carrier is named after the coastal province of Fujian, just across the Taiwan Strait from Taiwan and home to the Eastern Theater Command of the People’s Liberation Army.
Taiwan is a thriving democracy, but China considers the island its own territory and has never given up on using force to bring it under its control.
Taiwan’s defense ministry said in a statement to Reuters about the new carrier that it “attaches great importance” to China’s military development.
Taiwan “includes this in research on the enemy situation in a forward-looking way, uses innovative asymmetric thinking and actively develops countermeasures to effectively implement the military strategy of persistence in defense and strong deterrence,” he added.
Taiwan controls two groups of islands that are geographically part of Fujian and located right off its coast – Kinmen and Matsu – and which were regularly bombed by China during the Cold War.
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Report by Ryan Woo and Martin Pollard; Additional reports from Yimou Lee and Ben Blanchard in Taipei; edited by Richard Pullin and Stephen Coates
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