BANGKOK (AP) \u2014 China has commissioned its latest aircraft carrier after extensive sea trials, state media reported Friday, adding a ship that experts say will help what is already the world\u2019s largest navy expand its power farther beyond its own waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The official Xinhua news agency said the Fujian had been commissioned Wednesday at a naval base on southern China\u2019s Hainan island in a ceremony attended by top leader Xi Jinping.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Fujian is China\u2019s third carrier and the first that it both designed and built itself. It is perhaps the most visible example so far of Xi\u2019s massive military overhaul and expansion that aims to have a modernized force by 2035 and one that is \u201cworld class\u201d by mid century \u2014 which most take to mean capable of going toe-to-toe with the United States.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With it, Beijing takes another step toward closing the gap with the U.S. Navy and its carrier fleet and network of bases that allow it to maintain a presence around the world.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cCarriers are key to Chinese leadership\u2019s vision of China as a great power with a blue-water navy,\u201d or one that can project power far from its coastal waters, said Greg Poling, director of the Asia Maritime Transparency Initiative at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For China\u2019s 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 important military facilities on Guam and elsewhere, Poling said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cA carrier doesn\u2019t really help you in the First Island Chain, but it\u2019s key to that contest, if you want one, with the Americans in the wider Indo-Pacific,\u201d Poling said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China\u2019s \u201cincreasingly capable military\u201d and ability to \u201cproject power globally\u201d is one of the reasons the Pentagon in its latest report to Congress continued to call it \u201cthe only competitor to the United States with the intent and, increasingly, the capacity to reshape the international order.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
At the same time, it is Beijing\u2019s right to \u201ctransform its navy into a blue-water strategic navy commensurate with China\u2019s national strength,\u201d said Song Zhongping, a Hong Kong-based military affairs expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cChina\u2019s carriers cannot just operate near home, they must operate in the distant oceans and far seas to carry out various training and support missions,\u201d Song said. \u201cChina is a great power and our overseas interests span the globe; we need to be globally present.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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\u2019s new government, said it underscores that China is \u201cextensively and rapidly strengthening its military power without transparency.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe believe that China\u2019s military intends to advance its operational capability at distant sea and air by strengthening sea power,\u201d he told reporters, emphasizing that Japan was watching China\u2019s military activity and would \u201ccalmly but decisively respond\u201d if necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One possibility that raises concerns in foreign capitals is a possible Chinese blockade or invasion of the democratically self-governed island of Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory and which leader Xi Jinping has not ruled out taking by force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Though the island sits right off of China\u2019s coast, if China had the ability to position an aircraft carrier group or groups around the Second Island Chain \u2014 between Taiwan and the U.S. Pacific Fleet headquarters in Hawaii \u2014 that could delay possible American military assistance in the event of a Chinese attack.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey want those aircraft carriers to play a part in kind of extending the strategic perimeter farther out from China, and one of the important things that an aircraft carrier can do is extend the range of China\u2019s domain awareness to keep an eye on activities in the air, on the sea, and below the sea,\u201d said Brian Hart, deputy director of CSIS\u2019s China Power Project<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Fujian skips past the steam catapult technology used on most American carriers to employ an electromagnetic launch system found only on the latest U.S. Navy Ford-class carriers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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-600 early warning and control plane, which it successfully tested during its sea trials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Its latest J-35 stealth fighter and J-15T heavy fighter were also launched from the Fujian, giving the new carrier \u201cfull-deck operation capability\u201d according to the Chinese navy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The ability to carry its own reconnaissance aircraft means unlike its first two carriers, it won\u2019t be operating blind when out of the range of land-based support, giving it the ability to operate its most advanced aircraft far afield including the Second Island Chain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe Fujian carrier is a big leapfrog for China in terms of the capabilities of its aircraft carriers compared to the first two,\u201d Hart said .<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, Hart noted, China\u2019s navy lags behind the U.S. in several significant ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Numerically it only has three carriers compared to the U.S. Navy\u2019s 11, and while China\u2019s carriers are all conventionally powered, the U.S.\u2019s 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 currently in service 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China also lags behind the U.S. in guided missile cruisers and destroyers, which are critical in providing air and submarine defense and support for larger naval groups, as well as nuclear-powered submarines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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 capacity, Hart said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Beyond just equipment, China lacks the network 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China is working on expanding its foreign bases, however, and has a nuclear propulsion system for a carrier in development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There\u2019s 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\u2019t currently come close to matching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cReally across the board, China\u2019s closing the gap,\u201d Hart said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThey\u2019re fielding and building more aircraft carriers, they\u2019re fielding more nuclear-powered subs, they are fielding more, larger destroyers and other vessels that carry a larger number of missiles. So they\u2019re really catching up.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
China has happily shown off its new military assets, releasing video of the KJ-600, J-35 and J-15T test flights from the Fujian.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A World War II Victory Day parade at the start of September showcased all three aircraft along with hypersonic glide vehicles \u2014 whose high-speed, maneuverability and other attributes make them more difficult to intercept than traditional ballistic missiles \u2014 aerial and underwater drones and electronic warfare systems.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sophisticated new equipment does not necessarily translate to military readiness, however, said Singapore-based analyst Tang Meng Kit, who noted that China hasn\u2019t fought a war since 1979 and that the carefully choreographed parade was good at \u201camplifying perceptions of strength.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cIt is possible that China\u2019s capabilities are overstated, as real-world operational readiness lags behind its showcased arsenal,\u201d he told the AP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He also cautioned in a recent analysis for the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore that it would be a mistake to see China\u2019s military modernization as simply geared toward a possible Taiwan invasion, which he said is only one part of a \u201clarger mosaic.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The parade \u201csignaled China\u2019s broader strategic intent, which is to deter major powers, pressure regional actors, expand its global influence, and reinforce its domestic legitimacy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Albee Zhang in Washington and Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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