Chinese Aircraft Carrier 'Shandong' to Complete All Combat Readiness by the End of This Year

Hostile Relations with Taiwan Short of Quasi-War
Whether It Becomes a Real War Depends on Taiwan and the United States

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] China has revealed the recent maneuvers of the aircraft carrier Shandong (山東), built with indigenous technology. Since its commissioning at the end of last year, the Shandong has been conducting weapon and equipment performance training near the Yellow Sea and the Taiwan Strait.

According to state-run China Central Television (CCTV) and the Global Times on the 28th, the Shandong has been conducting live training exercises including air support, damage control, and emergency response from December last year until recently.

Commander Lai Yijun of the Shandong stated, "We focused the training on live combat aspects such as weapon performance," adding, "We promoted the enhancement of the carrier's combat capability by strengthening the integration of personnel and equipment."

Regarding this, researcher Zhang Junseo from the Naval Military Academic Research Institute evaluated, "Since the Shandong has been in service for less than a year, it is still undergoing basic training to test equipment performance and strengthen ship operation and training." He also forecasted, "In the future, more joint exercises will be conducted with aircraft, other ships, and other carrier strike groups."

Photo by Baidu capture

The Global Times reported that the Shandong will complete all combat readiness by the end of this year.

The unveiling of the Shandong came amid China's strong opposition to the United States' successive sales of advanced weapons to Taiwan.

The United States recently approved a weapons export worth $1.8 billion (approximately 2.04 trillion KRW) to Taiwan, and just five days later announced an additional sale of weapons worth $2.37 billion (approximately 2.6781 trillion KRW).

In response, the Chinese Ministry of National Defense warned, "The Chinese military has sufficient will and capability to crush any interference from external forces and any separatist attempts by 'Taiwan independence' forces," adding, "We will take necessary measures to safeguard sovereignty and territorial integrity and continue to push forward the process of national reunification."

The Shandong, deployed at the naval base in Sanya, Hainan Province in southern China, is known to be deployed to the Taiwan and South China Sea areas in case of emergency.

As tensions between China and Taiwan rise, the possibility of accidental clashes is also being raised.

Xin Qiang, director of the Taiwan Research Center at Fudan University, said, "Currently, political trust between mainland China and Taiwan, and between China and the United States, is very low," but predicted, "However, with the U.S. presidential election approaching, the U.S. administration is unlikely to take risky actions."

Jang Hua, associate researcher at the Taiwan Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, stated, "The situation where mainland China has no options other than economic sanctions or blockade against Taiwan can be described as a quasi-war situation," adding, "Currently, it is a hostile state rather than a quasi-war state." He warned, "Whether it becomes a quasi-war or a real war depends on Taiwan and the United States."