New vessel ‘game changer’ for navy
China has launched its first home-made aircraft carrier and given it a potentially Taiwan-provoking name.
The Fujian, China’s third and most advanced aircraft carrier, has been wholly designed and built domestically, according to state media. It comes as Beijing continues to bolster its navy amid rising tensions with Washington and other Asia-Pacific nations.
The vessel, equipped with the latest aircraft-launch technology and weaponry, is named Fujian. That move is politically charged owing to the fact that Fujian is China’s nearest province to Taiwan, separated by a strait that is only 130 kilometres wide at its narrowest point.
The launch comes amid increased fears in the West that Beijing may attempt to stage a takeover of Taiwan, a self-ruled democracy China considers a breakaway province.
The ship was launched from the Jiangnan shipyard at Shanghai in a pomp-filled ceremony. Sailors clad in white uniforms applauded under colourful clouds of smoke as water jets arched over the vessel. Its flight deck was adorned with colourful bunting and large banners bearing political slogans.
The vessel could be a ‘‘game changer’’ for the Chinese navy, Collin Koh, a research fellow at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, said. With a displacement of more than 80,000 tonnes, it is comparable in size with the United States Navy carriers. Its electromagnetic catapult-assisted launch system is similar to the one used on the newest US carrier, the USS Gerald R Ford.
China’s first carrier, Liaoning, was a repurposed Soviet ship while its second, Shandong, was built domestically but based on a Soviet design. Both employed a socalled ‘‘ski-jump’’ launch method for aircraft, with a ramp at the end of a short runway to help planes take off.
Fujian’s use of a catapult means it will be able to launch a broader variety of aircraft, which is needed for China to project naval power at a greater range, Ridzwan Rahmat, a Singapore-based analyst with the defence intelligence company Janes, said.
Unlike the US Navy’s nuclear-powered supercarriers, the Fujian uses conventional propulsion. Nuclear vessels have significant advantages in that they can operate for long periods without the need to dock and refuel.
Mr Gay World USA 2022 Tony Ardolino rides along the parade route at the Stonewall Pride procession and street festival yesterday as part of Pride month celebrations in the city of Wilton Manors, Florida. The annual event celebrates the historic Stonewall riots, and the start of the LGBTQ+ human rights movement and how it has shaped rainbow communities. The celebration typically attracts about 35,000 spectators and has a direct economic impact of more than a million US dollars for Wilton Manors, according to an independent study.