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Opinion | As China’s naval might grows, South Korea must shore up its defences
- China’s launch of its domestically designed and built aircraft carrier signals its emergence as a major naval power in the struggle for dominance in the Pacific
- While there are obvious implications for the US and possibly Taiwan, South Korea should also be stirred into expanding its own naval capability
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China is now challenging the United States for supremacy in the Pacific Ocean. The challenge is not yet at the stage of armed conflict, but the day may be coming when Chinese warships want to take on the American navy in the East China and South China seas and beyond.
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This challenge comes in the form of China’s emergence as a major naval power with the launch of its aircraft carrier, the Fujian. Significantly, it is named after the Chinese province closest to Taiwan.
The real importance of the Fujian is that it is entirely Chinese designed, engineered and built. That places it in a class above China’s other two aircraft carriers, one a refitted carrier used by the navy of the former Soviet Union, the other made in China but based on Russian designs.
The Fujian is likely to be the first of several aircraft carriers China is planning to produce as a response to American carriers’ domination of the Pacific. The Fujian is diesel-powered, but the next Chinese aircraft carriers are sure to be nuclear-powered like those of the United States.
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What is known about the Fujian, China’s first home-designed aircraft carrier
What is known about the Fujian, China’s first home-designed aircraft carrier
China may hope to be able to stand up to the United States in the Taiwan Strait, where it was last forced to back down in 1996. Bill Clinton, then the US president, ordered the aircraft carrier Nimitz, accompanied by a battle group, into the straits after Beijing fired missiles near Taiwan.
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