China’s latest aircraft carrier passes through Taiwan Strait for final testing

China’s newest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, transited the Taiwan Strait as part of a research and training exercise ahead of its formal entry into service.

This was confirmed by the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN), whose spokesperson Senior Captain Leng Guowei told Chinese state media on September 12 that the Fujian was headed to the South China Sea for testing.

“The cross-regional tests and training are a routine mission of the carrier’s construction process and do not target any specific objects,” Leng said.

The 80,000-tonne Fujian has not yet been officially commissioned but will join the Liaoning and Shandong as China’s third and most advanced aircraft carrier.

It is only the second carrier in the world, after the USS Gerald Ford, to feature an electromagnetic catapult system, which facilitates aircraft takeoffs and landings. 

According to Al Jazeera, developing such technology demonstrates that China is closing the gap with the US, according to maritime expert and former United States Air Force Colonel Ray Powell, though limitations remain.

Fu Qianshao, a Chinese military affairs expert believes that the Fujian’s South China Sea voyage indicates the carrier is nearly complete. It previously underwent trials in the East China Sea and Yellow Sea.

Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force reported this week spotting the Fujian near the disputed but uninhabited Senkaku Islands—known as the Diaoyu Islands in China and Diaoyutai Islands in Taiwan—en route to the Taiwan Strait, accompanied by two PLAN destroyers.

No official date has been set for the Fujian’s commissioning. The US Naval Institute (USNI) said the launch is likely to “coincide with a date that holds historical significance to China,” possibly September 18, the anniversary of Japan’s 1931 invasion of Manchuria, or China’s National Day on October 1.

By Nazrin Sadigova