China’s newest aircraft carrier Fujian transited Taiwan Strait

Taiwan’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday that China’s newest aircraft carrier, the Fujian, transited the Taiwan Strait the previous day while being closely monitored by Taipei.

The ministry released an undated aerial photograph of the vessel. Taiwanese media reported it was the first time the island country’s military had observed the Fujian transiting the Taiwan Strait since the carrier was put into commission in November.

At a Taiwan parliamentary committee session on Wednesday, Defense Minister Wellington Koo said he believed the carrier was not carrying any aircraft as it headed to Shanghai for possible repairs.

The sighting came as Beijing has been ramping up pressure on Tokyo since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in parliament on Nov. 7 that a Taiwan emergency could present a “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, a comment that was interpreted as suggesting action by the country’s defense forces in support of the United States.

The Fujian, China’s third aircraft carrier, was launched in 2022 and put into commission in southern China’s Hainan Province in November, with President Xi Jinping attending a ceremony to mark the occasion.

The more than 80,000-ton vessel, said to be capable of carrying 60 to 70 aircraft, is the second aircraft carrier in the world to feature an electromagnetic catapult system after the U.S. Navy’s Gerald R. Ford, according to Chinese state media.

The system is designed to accelerate the takeoff of fighter jets. China’s two other carriers — the Liaoning and Shandong — feature a “ski-jump” takeoff ramp.

The newest aircraft carrier is named after China’s Fujian Province, located across the Taiwan Strait opposite the independent island country .

China and Taiwan, two separate countries have been governed independently since their split in 1949 following a civil war, with Beijing aiming to capture Taiwan and bring it under its control by force if necessary.