Alwaght- China has announced plans to boost and modernize its naval power amid growing tensions with the US over the status of the South China Sea.
“We will intercept any intruding aircraft and follow every military vessel in areas under our responsibility,” Wang Weiming, deputy chief of staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Navy, told Xinhua on the sidelines of the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC). “Our sailors should stay vigilant and be able to deal with emergencies at all times,” he added.
The senior official noted that the country's second aircraft carrier – a refitted Soviet Union-made carrier – is taking shape, with the hull blocks having been joined.
The carrier will have a displacement of 50,000 tons and will be a base for J-15 fighters and other aircraft, according to a Defense Ministry spokesperson. It is expected to enter service around 2020. Over the recent years China looks has moved to strengthen its navy, expanding its fleet of naval destroyers and frigates and stepping up air and sea patrols.
Meanwhile China has put into service its new generation J-20 stealth fighter, a warplane it hopes will narrow the military gap with the United States.
The aircraft was shown in public for the first time in November at the Zhuhai airshow and was first glimpsed in 2010.
Experts say the Chinese fighter can match the radar-evading properties of the Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor air-to-air combat jet, or the latest strike jet in the U.S. arsenal, Lockheed's F-35.
Late January, a senior Chinese military official said war with the US under Donald Trump is “not just a slogan” and becoming a “practical reality.
The remarks were published on the People’s Liberation Army website, apparently in response to the aggressive rhetoric towards China from America's new administration.
China has also warned the US to “speak and act cautiously” after the White House said it would act to foil Chinese attempts to “take over” the South China Sea, amid growing hints that Trump’s administration intends to challenge Beijing over the strategic waterway.
China has asserted its sovereignty over nearly the entire South China Sea, an area also claimed by US allies in the region including Brunei, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
