The aircraft carrier, accompanied by two destroyers and a frigate, will spend five days in the city as part of an effort to “drum up patriotism,” according to the Associated Press.
On Thursday, a People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) flotilla arrived in Hong Kong. Notably included in the flotilla was the Type 002 Shandong, China’s first domestically-built aircraft carrier. Thursday’s arrival marked the first-ever visit of the warship to the former British colony; it was the first carrier to make a port call in the city since the US Navy’s USS Ronald Reagan (CVN-76) in October 2017.
The arrival of the Type 002 Shandong also comes only days after the 28th anniversary of the UK’s 1997 handover of Hong Kong to China, following more than a century of colonial rule.
The Shandong’s Arrival Is a Show of Force by Beijing
The aircraft carrier, accompanied by two destroyers and a frigate, will spend five days in the city as part of an effort to “drum up patriotism,” according to the Associated Press. The PLAN made 10,000 tickets available to residents, offered by lottery, to allow visits to the warships, with only 2,000 tickets allocated for the carrier.
Beijing has attempted to eradicate the memory of the massive anti-government protests that began in 2019 and continued until the onset of COVID-19 in early 2020. Last week, one of Hong Kong’s most prominent pro-democracy political parties, the League of Social Democrats, announced it would disband under political pressure from the Chinese government.
It is unclear if sending the carrier will have the result that Beijing seeks. The former British colony continues to enjoy “a degree of semi-autonomy and civil liberties compared to other major Chinese cities,” the AP added—though it noted that the Hong Kong government maintains “no jurisdiction over military and foreign affairs.”
The Type 002 Shandong is a symbol of China’s efforts to extend its presence in the Indo-Pacific and beyond, and that could run contrary to the pro-democracy movements. As the carrier entered Victoria Harbor, sailors lined the flight deck to spell out the Chinese characters “Secure Country, Sweet Home.”
All About China’s Type 002 Aircraft Carrier
The Type 002 Shandong is the second Chinese aircraft carrier to enter service, and the first to be domestically built in China. The conventionally powered carrier has a full load displacement of approximately 64,000 tons—significantly smaller than that of the US Navy’s nuclear-powered Nimitz-class flattops, which displace more than 100,000 tons.
However, the Type 002, which joined the PLAN fleet in December 2019, has been seen as proof of concept in Beijing’s abilities to build an aircraft carrier. China’s first carriers were largely derivative from earlier Soviet ones; the Shandong is based on the Type 001 Liaoning, an unfinished Soviet-era carrier that Ukraine inherited from the USSR and later sold to Beijing.
Both of the PLAN’s two operational carriers employ a ski jump ramp to launch their aircraft, limiting the number of sorties that can be carried out. However, China’s third carrier, the Type 003 Fujian, has a more advanced catapult-assisted takeoff (CATOBAR) capability. The Type 003 is now undergoing sea trials and is expected to enter service by the end of the year, significantly expanding the PLAN’s capabilities in the Indo-Pacific.
Given that Beijing aims to instill a patriotic spirit in Hong Kong, one should expect a visit by that carrier to the former British colony, possibly on one of its first deployments.
About the Author: Peter Suciu
Peter Suciu has contributed over 3,200 published pieces to more than four dozen magazines and websites over a thirty-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: Wikimedia Commons.
