China has made a landmark military move by launching its most advanced and largest aircraft carrier in history – the Fujian.
Tensions between China and Taiwan, and notably other nations around the world, have been running high and the United States has seen tensions increase because of the constant intimation that the Chinese military has been involved in regarding Taiwan – which they believe should be part of China.
The People’s Liberation Army (PLA) has undergone a revamp in recent times and the career development program is a part of it.
President Xi Jinping has promised to form a military that is “fully modern” and able to compete with the United States military forces by 2027.
According to state broadcaster CCTV, the new carrier called Fujian is the “first catapult aircraft carrier wholly designed and built by China.”
This a major achievement for the Chinese military and the day of the launch, a full spectacle was carried out.
The official Xinhua news agency reported that the new carrier is far more advanced than China’s other two current aircraft carriers and included electromagnetic catapults to launch aircraft from its deck.
The other two carriers called Liaoning and Shandong launch aircraft by launching from a ski-jump style platform. The new carrier is similar in size to those used by the U.S. Navy and is being called a “game changer,” according to Collin Koh, a research fellow at Nanyang Technological University, located in Singapore.
“The conventional flight deck [with electromagnetic catapults] will, at least in theory, allow the carrier to launch aircraft faster and with heavier payloads – which constitute key deciding factors during battle. At a strategic level, the new carrier heralds the coming of age of a blue-water PLA Navy,” Koh told AFP in an interview.
Blue-water navies can operate across the globe and have the capabilities to operate at huge ranges, the Fujian, however, will not be operational for some time yet and there has been no stated timeline as to when it will be entering into service.
The United States outnumbers everyone with the number of aircraft carriers in service, with eleven ships – the United Kingdom and China both only have two.
Supercarriers owned by the U.S. Navy, use nuclear power to propel their vessels, where the new carrier belonging to China, uses conventional propulsion. The advantage with nuclear powered ships is they do not need to be refueled for long periods of time.
The United Kingdom and the U.S both made deals with Australia last year to provide nuclear submarine technology and since then, they have made arms sales with Taiwan, much to the outrage of the Communist Chinese Party (CCP).
If Taiwan declares independence, China is more than ready and willing to go to war. The result could be nuclear.
