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China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities
safeguarding China's interests in areas beyond its immediate periphery; it would also be
able to protect nuclear ballistic missile submarines stationed on Hainan Island in the
South China Sea. The carriers would most likely also perform such missions as patrolling
economically important SLOCs, conducting naval diplomacy, regional deterrence, and
HA/DR operations.94
ONI states that
Unlike a U.S. carrier, LIAONING is not well equipped to conduct long-range power
projection. It is better suited to fleet air defense missions, where it could extend a
protective envelope over a fleet operating in blue water. Although it possesses a full suite
of weapons and combat systems, LIAONING will likely offer its greatest value as a long-
term training investment.95
A March 3, 2016, press report states:
China is building aircraft carrier battlegroups and plans to deploy them not only in the
disputed East and South China seas, but also to protect the country's overseas interests.
Rear Admiral Yin Zhuo, who served as a national political adviser and sits on the navy's
advisory board on cybersecurity, told the state-run Xinhua News Agency that building
aircraft carriers served to "defend China's sovereignty of the islands and reefs, maritime
rights and overseas -interests".
The defence ministry confirmed this year that China was building its second aircraft
carrier, its first wholly home-made one.
Xinhua mentioned China's growing interests overseas, including the increasing numbers
of nationals travelling abroad and its direct investments. It also noted a need to protect
overseas ethnic Chinese.
"Protecting the economic, political status and occupational safety of overseas Chinese is
paramount to safeguarding China's domestic economic development and its reform and
opening-up," Yin said, adding that such protection required strong naval power like
aircraft carrier battlegroups.96
A January 4, 2016, press report states:
China's second aircraft carrier, which is now under construction, will focus on military
operations rather than training and technological experiments, according to a senior
military researcher.
"This carrier will have different missions than those for the Liaoning (the country's first
aircraft carrier)," Senior Captain Zhang Junshe with the People's Liberation Army Naval
Military Studies Research Institute told the official PLA Daily on Friday.
"We use the Liaoning to test the reliability and compatibility of systems on carriers, and
to train personnel. The second carrier will mainly do what a genuine aircraft carrier is
supposed to do: running combat patrols and delivering humanitarian aid."
Zhang said China urgently needs a second carrier, as the country is seeking to improve its
defense systems and better safeguard national interests.
94 2017 DOD CMSD, p. 53.
95 2015 ONI Report, p. 23.
96 Zhen Liu, "China Plans Aircraft Carrie Battlegroups To Protect Offshore Interests," South China Morning Post,
March 3, 2016.Congressional Research Service
28
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O'Rourke, Ronald. China Naval Modernization: Implications for U.S. Navy Capabilities: Background and Issues for Congress, report, November 1, 2017; Washington D.C.. (https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc1043233/m1/33/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, UNT Digital Library, https://digital.library.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.