State media: China's third aircraft carrier launched, named "Fujian"

Recently CNN.co.jp reported the following:

中国３隻目の空母が進水、「福建」と命名　国営メディア

2022.06.17 Fri posted at 17:30 JST

（ＣＮＮ） 中国は１７日、同国で最も先進的な３隻目の空母を上海の江南造船所で進水させた。国営新華社通信が伝えた。

新華社によると、「福建」と命名された同艦は中国国内で設計・製造された初のカタパルト式空母となる。

米シンクタンクの戦略国際問題研究所（ＣＳＩＳ）によると、前２隻の「遼寧」と「山東」では甲板に傾斜を付けるスキージャンプ方式が使われており、今回のカタパルト補助式の射出システムは大きな改良点といえる。

新たなカタパルトシステムは米空母で使用されているものと同様、中国が様々な艦載機をより早く、より多くの弾薬を搭載した状態で射出することを可能にする。

新華社は同艦の満載排水量を８万トン超と報道。進水後に係留試験と航行試験を行うと報じた。

ＣＳＩＳ中国プロジェクトのマシュー・フナイオレ上級研究員は以前、ＣＮＮに対し、今回の新造艦は中国軍にとって初の現代型空母への挑戦になるとの見方を示していた。

中国は空母に沿岸部の省名を付けている。遼寧は北東部、山東は東部の省だ。南東部の福建省は台湾に最も近い省であり、両地を隔てる海峡は最も狭いところでは１２８キロに満たない。

中国共産党は台湾を統治したことは一度もないものの、台湾に主権が及ぶと主張。習近平（シーチンピン）国家主席は中国と台湾の「再統一」は避けられないと繰り返し発言しており、武力行使も排除していない。

中国はいまや世界最大の海軍を保有する。空母は本質的に移動式の航空基地であり、航空機や兵器を迅速かつ長期的に戦域展開することを可能にする。

Translation

(CNN) On the 17th, China launched its third most advanced aircraft carrier at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai. The state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.

According to the Xinhua News Agency, the ship named "Fujian" would be the first catapult-type aircraft carrier designed and manufactured in China.

According to a US think tank the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), the previous two ships the "Liaoning" and "Shandong" tilted the deck to use the ski-jump method. It could be said that the catapult-assisted ejection system was large improvement point.

The new catapult system, similar to those used on US aircraft carriers, could allow China to launch various carrier-based aircraft faster and with more ammunition loaded on the plane.

Xinhua reported that the ship's full displacement would be over 80,000 tons. It was reported that mooring and navigation tests would be conducted after launch.

Matthew Funaiole, senior researcher at the CSIS China Project, had previously told CNN that the new ship would be the first challenge for the Chinese military to a modern aircraft carrier.

China had given the aircraft carrier the name of a coastal province. Liaoning was the northeastern province and Shandong was the eastern province. Fujian Province in the southeast was the closest province to Taiwan, and the strait that separated these two regions was less than 128 km at the narrowest point.

The Chinese Communist Party had never ruled Taiwan, but claimed that it had sovereignty right over Taiwan. President Xi Jinping had repeatedly stated that a "reunification" between China and Taiwan is inevitable, and has not ruled out the use of force.

China now had the largest navy in the world. Aircraft carriers were essentially mobile air bases that could allow aircraft and weapons to be quickly deployed and in long-term battlefield expansion.

So, China launches its third aircraft carrier at the Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai that will use a new catapult system. China is trying to catch up with the US in terms of aircraft carrier design and in number.