Chinese-built aircraft carrier awaiting fitting
Print Edition
THE building of China’s second aircraft carrier is in good shape as the hull blocks have been joined in the dock.
Wang Weiming, deputy chief of staff of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy, said on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People’s Congress that the carrier was now awaiting fitting.
China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, is a refitted former Soviet Union-made carrier.
The second carrier, with a displacement of 50,000 tons, would be a base for J-15 fighters and other aircraft, according to a defense ministry spokesperson who confirmed its building in a press briefing in December 2015. It is being built entirely in China.
Wang, an NPC deputy, said the development of the marines was being accelerated, while the fleet of naval destroyers and frigates was growing bigger and stronger, and the navy would step up air and sea patrols.
“We will intercept any intruding aircraft and follow every military vessel in areas under our responsibility,” Wang said. “Our sailors should stay vigilant and be able to deal with emergencies at all times.”
Another NPC deputy Li Yanming, political commissar of the navy’s armaments department, said a first-class navy should be equipped with first-class armaments.
He pledged better quantity, quality, scope, and functionality of naval armament manufacturing in 2017.
A third NPC deputy, Wang Huayong, deputy political commissar of the Eastern Theater Command, allayed fears surrounding China’s increasing naval power.
“Our entire forces are for defense purposes,” Wang Huayong said. “The aircraft carrier is still in training and trial stage. The marines remain weak, and the number and quality of long-distance vessels do not meet expectations.”
He said China’s navy was not seeking to be a bully or trying to build a force beyond a level compatible with the country’s development. In fact, the military still lagged behind China’s current power and status, he said.
“We have never gone to the doorstep of others to show off our military power,” he said.
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