The Fujian’s recent passage through the Taiwan Strait was a show of military might—similar to the US Navy’s periodic “freedom of navigation operations.”
The United States and the self-ruling island of Taiwan regard most of the Taiwan Strait—only 80 miles wide at its narrowest point—as “international waters,” thereby allowing freedom of navigation for all countries. By contrast, China has asserted sovereignty and jurisdiction, demanding permission for foreign military passage. To its frustration, the United States has periodically sailed warships through the Strait in “freedom of navigation operations,” intended as a show of force against Beijing.
China has periodically engaged in shows of force of its own. On Tuesday, the People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN’s) newest and most advanced aircraft carrier, the Type 003 CNS Fujian, transited the strait as part of China’s efforts to exert military pressure on Taiwan, which Beijing views as a breakaway province that will be returned to mainland control by force if necessary.
Taipei, which rejects Beijing’s claims, carefully monitored the movements of the Fujian, which is now believed to be heading back to a Shanghai shipyard for maintenance after a recent shakedown cruise and as it completes its sea trials.
Alternatively, the carrier could travel to the Yuchi Naval Base on the northeastern coast of the East China Sea, the homeport for the Type 001 CNS Lianoing, the PLAN’s first operational carrier.
The Fujian Is China’s First “Supercarrier”
The third Chinese aircraft carrier, and the second to be domestically built from the keel up, was commissioned last month at a flag-presenting ceremony at the Sanya Naval Base in Hainan Province, located on the South China Sea. China’s President Xi Jinping was in attendance and boarded and inspected the vessel.
Displacing more than 80,000 tons, the Type 003 Fujian is the largest warship built in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the first catapult-equipped carrier to enter service with the PLAN, significantly enhancing its naval aviation capabilities.
Unlike China’s two previous active carriers, the Type 001 CNS Liaoning and Type 002 CNS Shangdong, the CNS Fujian was built with a flat flight deck. It also leapfrogged the United States Navy’s steam-powered catapults used on the Nimitz class, and instead employs electromagnetic catapults. That technology can increase the number of sorties that can be launched from the Chinese carrier and also enable heavier fixed-wing manned aircraft and unmanned aerial systems (UAS) to operate from the warship.
The warship spent much of the first half of 2025 undergoing eight sea trials, testing its propulsion, electronic systems, deck operations, and electromagnetic catapults and aircraft recovery systems. It was followed by nearly three months of post-trial maintenance.
CNS Fujian is currently homeported at the Yulin Naval Base on China’s southern island of Hainan in the South China Sea.
Taiwan Is Watching the PLAN Closely
Taiwan has monitored the movements of the new flattop, with Taiwanese Defence Minister Wellington Koo Li-hsiung noting that no carrier-based aircraft were spotted on the flight deck, indicating that sea trials are ongoing.
“It is presumed that it is returning to the Changxing Island shipyard in Shanghai for maintenance,” Koo told the island’s legislature, per the South China Morning Post. “Current observations suggest that Fujian’s transit through the Taiwan Strait has no military intent.”
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed over 3,200 published pieces to more than four dozen magazines and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: [email protected].
Image: Shutterstock / TimeDepot.Twn.
