[Yang Nakgyu's Defence Club] What Is the Power of the Aircraft Carrier China Has Unveiled?

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] China is drawing attention to its naval power as it forward-deploys aircraft carriers in response to Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, visiting Taiwan. In particular, China, which has been steadily building aircraft carriers, is even being evaluated as militarily on par with the U.S. in the event of a conflict.

China has decided to conduct live-fire drills resembling a complete blockade of Taiwan from noon on the 4th to noon on the 7th, lasting three days. This was announced immediately after Pelosi, the third highest-ranking official in the U.S. power hierarchy, arrived in Taiwan on the night of the 2nd.

The issue is that the Chinese military is highly likely to conduct a "dual carrier" exercise by simultaneously deploying the Shandong aircraft carrier from the Southern Theater Command and the Liaoning aircraft carrier from the Northern Theater Command. Because of this, some assessments say the situation in the Taiwan Strait is more serious than the Third Taiwan Strait Crisis of 1995-1996, when the Chinese military fired multiple missiles around Taiwan. When Newt Gingrich, then Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, visited Taiwan in 1997, China only protested through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other channels.

China continues to launch aircraft carriers to counter the U.S. naval power. The newly launched carrier this year was named the "Fujian" and assigned the number 18.

The Fujian, a diesel-powered carrier, is the first Chinese-designed and built electromagnetic catapult aircraft carrier, with a displacement of about 80,000 tons. The most notable feature of the Fujian is that it adopts an electromagnetic catapult launch system for carrier-based aircraft, unlike the ski-jump style takeoff method used by previous Chinese carriers.

China currently possesses two aircraft carriers: the Liaoning, a modified unfinished Russian carrier, and the Shandong, developed based on it. Both use the ski-jump style takeoff method for carrier-based aircraft.

China plans to build at least four carrier strike groups by 2030, aiming to develop the world's second-largest blue-water navy after the U.S. The plan is to secure a total of six aircraft carriers by 2035.

China is organizing carrier strike groups to prevent U.S. carrier strike groups from entering within 1,000 km of the Taiwan Strait. This is part of China's Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2AD) strategy. The strategy aims to block enemy aircraft carriers from approaching the coast and thoroughly destroy enemy naval forces within a certain range from the coast.

There are forecasts that China's strategy may have an advantage over the U.S. It is said to be capable of sufficiently countering the 11 U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, each around 100,000 tons. Military experts point out that while the U.S., operating about 750 overseas military bases worldwide, must maintain military power over a wide area, China's military power is concentrated in Northeast Asia, which is advantageous.

The U.S. is also preparing for possible military conflict in response to Nancy Pelosi's visit to Taiwan. The U.S. Navy is reported to have deployed four warships, including a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, near the Philippine Sea close to Taiwan. The aircraft carrier Ronald Reagan is operating alongside the guided missile cruiser USS Antietam and the guided missile destroyer USS Higgins. The amphibious assault ship Tripoli is also reportedly deployed in the area. U.S. military aircraft such as the P-8A anti-submarine patrol aircraft and the E-8C Joint STARS ground surveillance reconnaissance aircraft have also appeared in the airspace near Taiwan.