China has hinted in a video at an aircraft carrier that could be its first nuclear-powered as it looks to boost maritime power, secure resources, and bolster territorial claims.
The video released on the eve of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy’s 77th anniversary featured fictional officers whose names echoed the service’s three commissioned aircraft carriers: Liaoning, Shandong, and Fujian.
It showed a 19-year-old named “He Jian” joining the group, which triggered public speculation whether it was referring to a fourth nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. The Navy recruit’s name is a homophone of “nuclear vessel” in Mandarin.
All three carriers currently in service are conventionally powered and bear sequential pennant numbers 16, 17 and 18. The new recruit’s age, 19, hints that “He Jian” will fall in line with that numbering logic.
The film features four generations of naval personnel and concludes with a symbolic “Easter egg” which alludes to the reunification of self-governed Taiwan with mainland China. Beijing under Xi Jinping’s rule has not ruled out the use of force to bring Taiwan under its fold and has increased military activity around the island.
“The ‘Easter egg’ in PLA Navy promotional films has become something of a tradition, and the ending of this latest release is rich with symbolism,” state media Global Times reported.
The video showed an exchange between a naval officer and his son “Xiao Wan”, the latter’s name an allusion to Taiwan. “I don’t want to go home just yet. I want to play out a little longer,” the boy says in the video.
His father responds, “Xiao Wan, don’t be difficult. Mum is waiting for you at home. Let’s go home.”
Beijing is spending billions of dollars to build a “bluewater navy” allowing it to project power far from its shores, a goal since 2012, when president Xi became leader of the ruling Communist Party.
Action sequences in the video featured military drills and strikes in the Pacific.
A Pentagon report released in December last year claimed that China aims to expand its navy with nine aircraft carriers by 2035, up from the current three in service.
The US assessment claims the Chinese Navy would helm the Indo-Pacific’s largest carrier build-up since World War II, aiming to triple its fleet.
The Pentagon estimates China will field nine carriers by 2035, roughly one every 20 months, as Beijing become more aggressive around the waters surrounding the country.
China’s fourth aircraft carrier, widely identified as the Type 004, is reportedly under construction at the Dalian shipyard.
The aircraft carrier, expected to be the first nuclear-powered vessel, will likely be equipped with twin reactors, marking a significant leap in Beijing’s naval capabilities.
The vessel is expected to be a massive supercarrier with a displacement of 110,000–120,000 tonnes, which will be capable of operating more than 100 aircraft, according to the 1945 website.
It is expected to feature electromagnetic catapults capable of launching advanced aircraft such as the J-35 and KJ-600, similar to the E-2C/D Hawkeye used on US carriers.
The US Navy operates 11 aircraft carriers, including one advanced USS Gerald R Ford, capable of launching more than 70 aircraft.
China’s natural resources ministry in an article published in the official People’s Daily, has urged greater efforts to “protect” the more than 11,000 islands China claims.
The vast majority of these are located within 100km of the coast, with nearly 60 per cent in the East China Sea, around 30 per cent in the South China Sea and the rest in the Bohai and Yellow Seas, an official Chinese tally showed in 2018.
China has built artificial islands, airstrips, and military facilities during extensive land reclamation efforts over the years in disputed waters in the South China Sea.
Last September, Beijing declared a national nature reserve at the disputed Scarborough Shoal to assert its claim to the atoll, a long-time flashpoint with the Philippines.
“The facilities on its artificial island bases have allowed Chinese law enforcement, naval, and militia vessels to spend every day of the year patrolling the waters of its neighbours up to 1,000 nautical miles from the Chinese coastline,” said Gregory Poling of the CSIS think tank.
