China Navigates Its Way to Naval Dominance

Chinese General Secretary Xi Jinping commissioned China’s third aircraft carrier into service last month, marking the latest sign of the nation’s rapidly expanding naval power.

The Fujian CV-18 is China’s most advanced carrier to date. Dubbed China’s “crown jewel,” it can carry 60 aircraft, including the nation’s latest stealth fighters. The vessel features a state-of-the-art electromagnetic catapult system enabling the launch of heavy aircraft. Until now, the United States was the only country with this advanced technology.

The Fujian is named after China’s closest province to Taiwan. It underwent nine months of sea testing, including a Taiwan Strait “training mission” this September. Along with its name, this mission foreshadows China’s goals for the carrier.

More Underway

China now has the world’s second-largest aircraft carrier fleet. Recent photographic evidence indicates the Chinese are not stopping there.

China is building its fourth carrier, which will likely be nuclear-powered. This would make China one of only three nations to have nuclear-powered carriers. Reports suggest another nonnuclear aircraft carrier is also in the works. Aircraft carriers are vital to projecting power, and China’s buildup points to aggressive plans.

[Nuclear propulsion] will also help meet the power-generation requirements of ever improving sensors and other mission systems. A nuclear-powered supercarrier would go a long way toward closing the technical gap with the U.S. Navy and would see China join France as the only other nation operating a nuclear-powered flattop.
—The War Zone

Not Just Aircraft Carriers

A “next generation drone-carrier,” the Sichuan, had its maiden voyage on November 14. This first Type-076 amphibious assault ship returned to land three days later after key systems tests “achieved the expected results,” according to Chinese state media. Designed for close-range amphibious assault within 1,500 miles of China, such as Taiwan, the roughly 45,000-ton Sichuan is expected to be commissioned next year.

China, proclaiming itself a “near Arctic” power, is also building a formidable icebreaker fleet, fueling the fight for the Arctic.

“An unprecedented number of Chinese military and research vessels operated in or near U.S. Arctic waters, prompting the U.S. Coast Guard (uscg) to respond decisively in defense of American sovereignty,” said a Department of Homeland Security report released this week. China currently has at least five icebreakers in its arsenal, with plans to build more. America has two.

China has the world’s largest navy, with 395 ships, almost 100 more than the U.S. By the end of the decade, China is expected to add another 70 to that count, while the U.S. will add just 42. China is building ships at a blistering rate.

[Unstable funding] has shrunk the U.S. fleet to its smallest size since before World War ii, while state-subsidized Chinese shipyards produce modern warships at a pace not seen in generations.
—Andrew Latham, National Security Journal

Compared to America, China has become a shipbuilding mecca, building over 1,000 ships per year, while America builds 5 to 10. Just 50 years ago, China was the world’s 16th-largest shipbuilder, according to Brian Potter of Construction-physics.com. China’s commercial fleet of over 8,000 also doubles as an auxiliary military fleet, which it is planning to use in a Taiwan invasion, Reuters confirmed last week.

Overall, China’s navy has less tonnage than America’s, but that is changing. From 2019 to 2023, the nation produced over three dozen warships, displacing 550,000 tonnes—comparable to the weight of Britain’s navy, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Just one of China’s shipyards in Jiangnan has more capacity than all American shipyards combined.

Naval Push

Thirty years ago, the Chinese Navy was an insignificant, localized, coastal defense force. Today, it’s battling for the top spot, turning the Pacific into a powder keg. Its focus is projecting power over the Pacific—specifically, the South China Sea. It is placing naval assets in contested areas.

On Monday, the Philippine Navy spotted four Chinese warships around the contested Scarborough Shoal. China is using the Navy to browbeat its neighbors. Eventually, the Navy will be used for more than local belligerence: It will besiege America.

China’s naval dominance was prophesied nearly 3,000 years ago in the Bible. Isaiah 23 and Deuteronomy 28 prophesy of an end-time economic siege against the U.S. carried out by a group of powers, including “Chittim,” an ancient name for modern China. Its rapidly growing naval might, even as American shipbuilding lags, is a step toward this imminent siege.

For more information, read our Trends article “Why the Trumpet Watches the Development of a Massive Anti-American Trade Bloc.”