China’s New Aircraft Carrier Just Got Its Home Port

Peter Suciu

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The Type 003 Fujian, commissioned into the People’s Liberation Army Navy earlier in November, will be stationed at China’s Yulin Naval Base in southern Hainan—overlooking the South China Sea.

Despite a 2016 international tribunal ruling against China’s claim to the near-entirety of the South China Sea, the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has made it clear that it views nearly all of the sea as its own sovereign territory. This has predictably resulted in tensions with China’s neighbors, and has even led to clashes between the Chinese Coast Guard and neighboring navies—particularly the Philippine Navy.

A game of brinksmanship has continued as China’s rivals have responded to Beijing. The Philippines has upgraded its military capabilities and fortified island outposts with anti-ship missiles. At the same time, Vietnam has continued to increase its presence in the South China Sea by transforming numerous small, previously uninhabited islands with new fortifications, buildings, and other facilities to support its claims to the waters.

Hanoi’s efforts have not yet reached the scale of the military bases that China has built on its artificial islands, but the island buildup continues. Vietnam has nearly 70 percent as much reclaimed land in the Spratly Island chain as China has—and it could surpass Beijing’s presence in short order if current trends persist.

China Has Multiple Aircraft Carriers in the South China Sea

Beijing will have a critical advantage over the Philippines and Vietnam: it has a brand-new aircraft carrier, and its various regional adversaries do not.

The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) now has three aircraft carriers, but it is the Type 003 Fujian (18) that could be a game changer. This second domestically-produced flattop, which was commissioned into service last week, is far more advanced than the preceding Type 001 Liaoning and Type 002 Shandong. The new carrier is equipped with a flat flight deck as well as electromagnetic catapults, which can both increase the number of sorties that can be launched from the carrier and the size (and loadout) of the planes involved. This technology can also allow for heavier fixed-wing manned aircraft and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to operate from the warship.