China’s Naval Strength and Influence Are Rising Faster Reportedly

 

The growing strength of China's Navy, marked by the advent of a "three-carrier era," will enable the country to more powerfully safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, a mainland spokesperson said on Wednesday, reports CGTN.

The commissioning of the aircraft carriers, from the Liaoning and the Shandong to the Fujian, represents a major achievement in strengthening national defense and the armed forces, said Chen Binhua, a spokesperson for the State Council's Taiwan Affairs Office, at a regular press conference.

"The arrival of the 'three-carrier era' constitutes a significant accomplishment in China's defense and military development, representing solid strides forward in the people's armed forces' advancement toward world-class capabilities," Chen said.

This enhanced capacity will serve to "safeguard national sovereignty and territorial integrity, and foil any forces or schemes that seek to violate or split China's sacred territory," Chen noted.

The spokesperson's remarks came in response to a media inquiry regarding the recent formal commissioning of the Fujian, China's first aircraft carrier equipped with electromagnetic catapults.

This vessel's entry into service, which has drawn significant attention in Taiwan, has been noted in some media reports as demonstrating the mainland's remarkable advances in both new quality productive forces and defense capabilities.

China's navy has the world's largest fleet by number of ships, with over 370 surface ships and submarines, but the US Navy leads in total displacement tonnage and advanced technology like nuclear-powered carriers. China has rapidly modernized its fleet, which includes three aircraft carriers and a massive domestic shipbuilding capacity, though it still faces limitations in global logistics and has fewer nuclear submarines than the US.

Back in Dalian, around an hour's drive from the vibrant city, tourists are arriving by the coach load in the naval fortress town of Lushunkou, which also has a military theme park in the shape of an aircraft carrier.


Rifat Rafique Badhan is a
freelancer and a columnist.