China has reached a naval milestone on Friday by launching a new aircraft carrier. Its name sends a clear signal: Fujian, the mainland province across the strait from Taiwan.
This warship is China’s first fully domestically developed carrier with catapult aircraft launch. Its previous two vessels have had their roots in Ukraine. The first carrier was built from a second-hand, partially-complete hull of a Soviet Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier. The second version was designed largely on the first carrier.
The timing follows ever seething tensions with Taiwan and the US. President Xi Jinping has expanded China’s military presence in disputed South China Sea areas and the Indo-Pacific region. This new carrier should increase the maritime range of China’s military to both Taiwan and Japan.