China’s third aircraft carrier sails through Taiwan Strait for the first time

In this photo released by Xinhua News Agency, China’s third conventionally powered aircraft carrier, the Fujian, conducts a maiden sea trial on May 7, 2024

China’s newest aircraft carrier, its third one, has sailed through the Taiwan Strait, the navy said Friday. The body of water separates China from Taiwan, an independent nation that Beijing wants to capture by force.

The sailing could serve as a warning to the U.S. and others against support for Taiwan, though China played down any such motive.

The Fujian, which is doing sea trials ahead of its commissioning, was heading to the West Philippines Sea or South China Sea as China calls it, to conduct training and scientific experiments, the navy said in a short post on social media.

The navy said the carrier’s activities were not targeting anyone else. A social media account affiliated with state media quoted an expert saying the Taiwan Strait was the normal and most reasonable and efficient route for the carrier to reach the West Philippines Sea. It was the first time the Fujian had passed through the strait, the post by the Yuyuantantian account said.

The U.S. Navy sends warships through the strait periodically, as do some of its allies, in a warning to Beijing against any attempt to use force to establish its claim over Taiwan.

Taiwan and China, the two countries split in a civil war that brought the communists to power in China, in 1949. The defeated Nationalist fled to Taiwan and set up their own independent country and government on the island.

The U.S. does not officially recognize the government in Taiwan, but it provides weaponry for its defense and says that any resolution of the differences between China and Taiwan should be peaceful and not by military force.

China’s military said last week that it was on high alert after the Canadian frigate Quebec and the Australian destroyer Brisbane sailed through the strait. It accused the two warships of provocative actions that it said heightened security risks.

Japan’s military said it had spotted China’s latest carrier for the first time on Thursday afternoon.
The Fujian, together with two guided-missile destroyers, was sailing southwest about 200 kilometers (125 miles) from the disputed Senkaku islands, or the Diaoyu islands in Chinese. Both countries claim the remote and uninhabited territory.

Its latest sea trial, the ninth since May 2024, sparked renewed speculation that the ship will be officially put into service soon.

The state-owned Global Times newspaper quoted an expert saying the commissioning is expected by the end of this year. It noted that China’s previous carrier, the Shandong, was commissioned in late 2019, one month after it made its first trip though the Taiwan Strait en route to the West Philippines Sea.

The Fujian is China’s third aircraft carrier, joining the Shandong and the Liaoning.