China’s newest aircraft carrier sails through sensitive Taiwan Strait

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China has over the past five years or so stepped up its military presence around Taiwan.

PHOTO: REUTERS

BEIJING - The Fujian, China’s third and most advanced aircraft carrier, recently sailed through the Taiwan Strait, the Chinese navy said on Sept 12, the sensitive waterway that separates China from the democratically governed island of Taiwan.

The carrier began sea trials in 2024 and has yet to formally enter service. China first unveiled it in 2022.

“Our country’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, recently transited the Taiwan Strait en route to relevant waters in the South China Sea to conduct scientific research trials and training missions,” China’s navy said.

“This cross-regional trial and training exercise for the Fujian is a routine arrangement in the carrier’s construction process and is not directed at any specific target,” it added.

Taiwan’s defence ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

China has over the past five years or so

stepped up its military presence around Taiwan,

Taiwan’s government rejects Beijing’s sovereignty, saying only the island’s people can decide their future.

The Fujian, designed and built domestically, is larger and more advanced than the Shandong, commissioned in late 2019, and the Liaoning, which China bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998. REUTERS