Satellite Photo Captures Two Chinese Aircraft Carriers Together
New satellite imagery shows two Chinese aircraft carriers at a base bordering the contested South China Sea, where Beijing claims sovereignty over most of the waters.
Meanwhile, the United States aircraft carrier USS George Washington left its home port in Japan for a patrol in the western Pacific, U.S. Naval Institute News reported.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Why It Matters
China operates the world’s largest navy by hull count, with more than 370 ships and submarines, including three aircraft carriers: CNS Liaoning and CNS Shandong in active service and CNS Fujian, which has yet to be commissioned. Its chief naval adversary, the U.S., possesses the world’s largest aircraft carrier fleet, with 11 vessels.
The Fujian has been operating in the South China Sea since mid-September for testing and training, following its departure from Shanghai in East China, where it was built, and a transit of the Taiwan Strait. Its presence comes amid ongoing tensions in the South China Sea, with China and its neighbors holding overlapping territorial claims.
What To Know
@MT_Anderson, an open-source intelligence analyst on the social media platform X, shared satellite imagery captured on Wednesday showing two aircraft carriers docked at Yulin Naval Base on China’s island province of Hainan, north of the South China Sea.
The vessels were identified as the Shandong and the Fujian, since China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, is homeported at Yuchi Naval Base in Qingdao in northeastern China.
Alex Luck, a naval analyst in Australia, also shared an undated photo showing the two Chinese aircraft carriers pierside at the base. It is unclear whether the Chinese military will hold a commissioning ceremony for the Fujian at Yulina.
Wednesday marked the 76th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. A month earlier, the East Asian power held a high-profile military parade in Beijing, showcasing its latest military achievements, including numerous new weapons.
Last week, the Chinese navy announced a major breakthrough in aircraft carrier-based aviation, with its newest aircraft—the J-15T and J-35 fighter jets and the KJ-600 early warning and command aircraft—completing takeoffs and landings aboard the Fujian.
Featuring electromagnetic catapults, the Fujian is regarded as China’s most advanced aircraft carrier, capable of launching heavier fixed-wing aircraft. By comparison, the Liaoning and the Shandong are designed to launch aircraft using ski-jump flight decks.
Facing Beijing’s growing military power, the Pentagon stations the carrier George Washington at Yokosuka Naval Base in Japan, a key ally in the U.S. island chain strategy to deter China.
The George Washington departed Yokosuka on Tuesday for the first time since August 30, according to a local government website that tracks port visits by American nuclear-powered warships.
According to U.S. Naval Institute News, the George Washington is currently the only U.S. aircraft carrier in the western Pacific. Earlier this year its sister ship, USS Nimitz, sailed from the South China Sea to deploy in the Arabian Sea amid tensions with Iran.
What People Are Saying
The Center for Strategic and International Studies’ ChinaPower project has said: “Aircraft carriers are one of the most visible symbols of a country’s military power. China is among a small handful of countries that possess multiple aircraft carriers.”
The U.S. Navy said in a photo caption on September 24: “George Washington is the U.S. Navy’s premier forward-deployed aircraft carrier, a long-standing symbol of the United States’ commitment to maintaining a free and open Indo-Pacific region, while operating alongside allies and partners across the U.S. Navy’s largest numbered fleet.”
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen whether the Chinese military will officially put the Fujian into service by the end of the year as part of its ongoing rapid buildup of its warship fleet.
