The decision to add another aircraft carrier is primarily driven by tensions between China and its neighboring countries over navigation rights in the South China Sea, which separates China from Vietnam, Taiwan and the Philippines, and reportedly carries huge oil and gas reserves.
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The new vessel was “independently designed in China” and is being constructed in the northeastern port of Dalian, said Chinese Defense Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun.
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Beijing already has one aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, which it bought from Ukraine in 1998, spent years refurbishing and put into service in 2012.
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Yang did not release more details, nor did he say when the carrier would be completed. Beijing wants to exert its presence in the South China Sea, after complaining of “provocations” from the U.S., as well as defending its interests in the region.
“The US has many aircraft carriers that are traveling all over the place in the South China Sea, which have caused problems for us”.
It is expected to carry Chinese J-15 fighter jets and other aircraft, he said.
Plans to build a second carrier do not come as a surprise. “It will keep us from being bullied”.
It’s extensive claims in the South China Sea, where it’s built artificial islands to bolster its assertions, have led to some tense encounters with American ships and planes in the region. Unlike China’s first carrier, it will have a ski jump-style takeoff. “[China] continues to pursue an indigenous aircraft carrier program and could build multiple aircraft carriers over the next 15 years”, the Pentagon wrote in its annual report published earlier this year.
The new vessel, with a displacement of 50,000 tonnes, is being built entirely with domestic technology in port city of Dalian in northeast China, reported the People’s Daily Online.
The second carrier will be roughly the same size as the Liaoning but only about half the size of the U.S. Nimitz class nuclear powered super-carriers, of which 10 are now in operation.
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Last week, the military said the Liaoning had made a “key breakthrough” in shifting from the testing phase to being able to operate ship-borne aircraft, as the country’s navy chief paid a visit.
