TIME

China Launches Its First Home-Built Aircraft Carrier

A sign of China's growing naval presence

[video id=zNRLY9V5 ]

China launched its first domestically-built aircraft carrier Wednesday, in the northeastern port of Dalian.

The ship, which has not yet been named, ceremonially entered the water with much fanfare at 9 a.m. local time, reports the state-run Xinhua news agency. It joins the ranks of the Liaoning, an extensively retrofitted former Soviet ship that became China’s first aircraft carrier in 2012.

Citing local media, the Associated Press reports that the new carrier will have capacity for 24 J-15 fighter jets and 12 helicopters, while the BBC reports that the ship will run on conventional power rather than nuclear.

The launch comes as the U.S. is sending an aircraft carrier strike group of its own — which North Korea has threatened to sink — and other vessels to waters near the Korean Peninsula, amid rising tensions in the region over Pyongyang’s nuclear missile program.

The latest addition to Beijing’s naval fleet comes against the backdrop of long-running territorial disputes in the South China Sea, where six nations have overlapping claims to various islets and reefs throughout the key waterway. China asserts sovereignty over most of the Sea, and has transformed several reefs into artificial islands, capable of accommodating military equipment and planes.

[Xinhua]

Your browser is out of date. Please update your browser at http://update.microsoft.com


YOU BROKE TIME.COM!

Dear TIME Reader,

As a regular visitor to TIME.com, we are sure you enjoy all the great journalism created by our editors and reporters. Great journalism has great value, and it costs money to make it. One of the main ways we cover our costs is through advertising.

The use of software that blocks ads limits our ability to provide you with the journalism you enjoy. Consider turning your Ad Blocker off so that we can continue to provide the world class journalism you have become accustomed to.

The TIME Team