On the 12th, the Chinese Navy announced that China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, had passed through the Taiwan Strait, heading to relevant waters in the South China Sea to carry out scientific research trials and training missions.
State media Xinhua quoted Navy spokesperson Senior Captain Leng Guowei as saying that this cross-regional trial and training exercise for the Fujian is a normal arrangement during the shipbuilding process and is not aimed at any specific target.
The Fujian was launched in June 2022 and has so far completed eight sea trials. Before the eighth sea trial this May, the Shanghai Maritime Safety Administration had also issued a similar notice.
Although this may be the final sea trial before the Fujian is commissioned, military experts have pointed out that after an aircraft carrier is officially in service, it still requires a relatively long period of technical and tactical training before it can fully unleash its combat capability—normally it needs at least another 2 to 3 years.
Chinese official media have recently been heavily promoting the Fujian. At the beginning of August, CCTV Military Channel revealed the progress of the Fujian's electromagnetic catapult tests in a documentary, stating that the ship's commissioning had entered its "final critical stage."
On August 23, the "CCTV Military" Weibo account released a video related to the anniversary of the victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan, focusing on the Fujian and comparing it to the Imperial Japanese Navy flagship from the wartime era—this sparked speculation that the Fujian might be commissioned during the September anniversary.