BEIJING – China is developing a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, statemedia reported on Wednesday, as Beijing pushes forward with an ambitiousmilitary modernisation programme.
Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged in October last year to turn China’smilitary into a world-class fighting force by 2050, and has made newtechnology development a key policy plank, investing in stealth fighters,aircraft carriers and missiles.
State-owned China Shipbuilding Industry Corporation (CSIC), the country’slargest naval vessel manufacturer, revealed on Tuesday the ambition in alist of technical developments the company hopes to achieve as part ofweaponry upgrades for the Chinese navy by 2025, according to thestate-backed Global Times.
The announcement by CSIC appears to have been subsequently edited on thecompany’s website to remove the mention of nuclear-powered vessels, but itremains widely available on the Chinese internet.
“We must speed up key breakthroughs such as the realisation ofnuclear-powered aircraft carriers, new-style nuclear submarines, quietsubmarines, and unmanned intelligent underwater defence systems,” theoriginal document said, according to the Global Times.
CSIC declined to immediately comment on the Global Times report.
CSIC built China’s first home-built aircraft carrier, which was launched inApril last year and is expected to enter service in 2020, once it has beenfitted out and armed.
The vessel was designed based on China’s first carrier, the Liaoning, whichwas bought second-hand from Ukraine in 1998 and refitted for China.
CSIC has also said that it is working on a third carrier that will bedesigned, constructed and equipped entirely using the company’s owntechnology.
Little is known about China’s aircraft carrier programme, which is a statesecret.
Chinese state media has quoted experts as saying that the country needs atleast six carriers, an endeavour expected to take decades. The UnitedStates operates 10 and plans to build two more.
China’s navy has been taking an increasingly prominent role over the lastyear, with its first aircraft carrier sailing around self-ruled Taiwan andnew Chinese warships popping up in far-flung places. – Agencies