China’s aircraft carrier Fujian passes through Taiwan Straits to hold tests, training in South China Sea: navy spokesperson

An aerial drone photo taken on May 7, 2024 shows China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, during its maiden sea trials. China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, completed maiden sea trials on Wednesday. (Photo: Xinhua)

China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, recently passed through the Taiwan Straits to carry out scientific research tests and training missions in the South China Sea, Senior Captain Leng Guowei, a spokesperson for the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy, announced on Friday.

The cross-sea tests and training of the Fujian is a normal arrangement in the aircraft carrier construction process, and it is not aimed at any specific target, Leng said.

Military affairs experts told the Global Times that this indicates the Fujian is about to officially enter service, and that China's era of three aircraft carriers is around the corner. Compared with the country's two previous two carriers, the Fujian has stronger comprehensive combat capabilities.

A similar scene took place in November 2019, when the Xinhua News Agency reported that China's second aircraft carrier passed through the Taiwan Straits to carry out scientific research tests and training missions in the South China Sea on November 17, 2019. It marked the second aircraft carrier's first Taiwan Straits transit, and a month later, it was delivered to the PLA Navy as the aircraft carrier Shandong in Sanya, South China's Hainan Province on December 17, 2019.

China's aircraft carrier program started from scratch, and the Shandong's "development history" is to some extent a reference to that of the Fujian, whose long-voyage indicates that the day of its official commissioning is drawing closer, Zhang Junshe, a Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times on Friday.

Previously, the aircraft carrier Fujian is on the final stretch before its commissioning, CCTV News reported in August.

Fu Qianshao, another Chinese military affairs expert, told the Global Times that the Fujian's commissioning is expected to take place within 2025.

According to the spokesperson, the Fujian has already begun cross-sea training. This, on one hand, shows that the Fujian's various technical capabilities have matured, and it has started to move away from familiar waters to conduct open-sea capability tests, said Zhang.

Previously, the Fujian underwent sea trials in the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea. This training mission to the unfamiliar waters of the South China Sea serves as a comprehensive test and improvement of the carrier's long-distance navigation capabilities, adaptability to complex environments, and the crew's coordination level, Zhang said.

Fu noted that the South China Sea is vast and has different hydrologic condition as the East China Sea and the Yellow Sea. This sea region also has important strategic significance.

The Fujian is China's first fully domestically designed and built aircraft carrier with catapults. It features an integrated straight flight deck, equipped with electromagnetic catapults and arresting devices, with a full load displacement of over 80,000 tons. After the launch of the Fujian on June 17, 2022, it carried out its first sea trial after leaving the Shanghai Jiangnan Shipyard on May 1, 2024. With a full displacement of more than 80,000 tons, the Fujian is the world's first conventionally powered aircraft carrier to feature electromagnetic catapult technologies, according to media reports.

Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force claimed that on Thursday around 1 pm, it spotted the aircraft carrier Fujian, the destroyers Hangzhou and Ji'nan of the PLA Navy sailing southwest some 200 kilometers northwest of China's Diaoyu Dao, according to a release by Japan's Ministry of Defense Joint staff. It was the first time that Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force had spotted the aircraft carrier Fujian, the Japanese release claimed.

Fu said that he hopes to see that the Fujian on a voyage in preparation for its upcoming commissioning. He said that Chinese warplanes and aircraft regularly conduct activities in these waters, and there is no need for over-interpretation. Only those with ill intentions would feel nervous.

Previously, Shanghai's Maritime Safety Administration issued a navigation restriction notice on Monday, stating that traffic control would be implemented in the Yangtze River estuary due to the passage of a large vessel on Wednesday. This phrasing has been frequently used when the aircraft carrier Fujian departed from its shipyard in Shanghai for sea trials on previous occasions, according to media reports.

China displayed a full set of the Fujian's air wing at the V-Day military parade on September 3 to mark the 80th anniversary of the victory in the Chinese People's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression and the World Anti-Fascist War, including the J-35 stealth fighter jet, the J-15T heavy fighter jet, the J-15DT electronic warfare aircraft and the KJ-600 carrier-borne fixed-wing early warning aircraft.

This showed that the Fujian will be combat-ready upon commissioning. Moreover, compared to China's two operational aircraft carriers, Liaoning and Shandong, the Fujian possesses stronger comprehensive combat capabilities, Zhang said.