China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, was commissioned earlier this week. Experts from Washington think tanks have analyzed that the U.S. should regard this as a wake-up call. It also reminds the outside world that the PLA is continuously committed to expanding and modernizing its force projection capabilities; although China intends to catch up with the U.S. in terms of carrier numbers and capabilities, it will still take many years.
Chinese media cited a report from the PLA Navy, stating that the Fujian is the largest vessel in active service and will be permanently stationed at Sanya Military Port. Analysts pointed out that, as expected, the Fujian being stationed in Sanya is mainly in response to the complex situations in the South China Sea and Taiwan Strait.
The Washington-based think tank, the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD), pointed out that the Fujian is China's third aircraft carrier, and Beijing is currently building a fourth. The Fujian is reportedly China's most technologically advanced carrier, equipped with an electromagnetic catapult system.
The U.S. military currently has 11 active aircraft carriers.
Mark Montgomery, a retired U.S. Navy Rear Admiral and now a Senior Fellow at the FDD, commented briefly that these carriers will become an important part of China's overseas power projection capability, or could become means for the Chinese mainland to forcibly impose its will on Taiwan if the U.S. abandons Taiwan.
However, he noted that if conflict were to occur between China and the U.S. or Japan, these Chinese carriers 'would become sitting ducks for U.S. submarines.'
Jack Borman, an analyst at the FDD's China Program, stated that the latest progress in China's aircraft carrier development reminds us that the PLA is constantly striving to expand and modernize its force projection capabilities. Undoubtedly, Beijing still remembers the deterrence displayed by two U.S. carriers off Taiwan during the 1996 Taiwan Strait crisis.
In 1996, in response to the Taiwan Strait missile crisis, the United States deployed two carrier strike groups, forcing Beijing to back down.
Bradley Bowman, Senior Director at the Center on Military and Political Power at the FDD, believes that Washington should take the commissioning of the Fujian as a wake-up call, but there's no need to overreact. Beijing is implementing a massive military modernization and expansion plan, demonstrating its regional and global military ambitions.
Bowman analyzed, 'China wants to catch up with the U.S. in terms of both the number and capability of aircraft carriers, which will take many years, but Beijing is determined to try to close the gap.' For Washington, the greatest risk lies in complacency and a lack of urgency.