PLA’s advanced aircraft carrier Fujian transits Taiwan Strait amid military drills

The People’s Liberation Army’s most advanced aircraft carrier, the Fujian Type 003, transited the Taiwan Strait on Tuesday, a day after Taipei launched a combat readiness exercise.
Song Zhongping, a military commentator and former PLA instructor, said the Fujian could be heading back to its home port in the southern island province of Hainan for a break before it headed out to the South China Sea for more training.
Taiwan’s armed forces closely monitored the vessel throughout its passage using joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance assets and maintained full awareness of its movements, the island’s defence ministry said on Tuesday.
The ministry released a photo showing the Fujian with an empty deck. Previously, Song said a lack of visible aircraft could suggest the carrier was operating in a low-threat state.
The transit came a day after Taiwan kicked off a five-day military drill called the Immediate Combat Readiness Exercise, an effort meant to boost the island’s ability to quickly move to a wartime footing.

The exercise would focus on the period immediately before a conflict began, testing whether units could quickly prepare and deploy after receiving orders, Taiwanese defence officials said.
Beijing sees Taiwan as part of China to be reunited by force if necessary.
Most countries, including the United States and Japan, do not recognise Taiwan as an independent state, but Washington is opposed to any attempt to take the self-ruled island by force and is committed to supplying it with weapons.
“The South China Sea is the main training ground for all aircraft carriers,” Song said. “After a short break at the home port in Sanya, the Fujian will head out again for more training, including in the South China Sea.”
Song said it was possible the Fujian could have its “debut” in the western Pacific Ocean, as did the PLA’s two other aircraft carriers, the Liaoning and the Shandong. That could happen by the end of this year or the beginning of next year, he added.
Beijing’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, started training in the western Pacific in 2016 and its second carrier, the Shandong, did so in 2023. The two carriers first conducted dual-carrier training in the South China Sea in 2024.
After the Fujian’s solo training, it was possible that it could jointly train with one or both carriers simultaneously in the waters, Song said.
Before Tuesday, the Fujian last sailed through the narrow body of water separating mainland China and Taiwan in December last year, soon after its commissioning for regular training.
The Fujian is the PLA’s most advanced aircraft carrier and the world’s biggest conventionally powered warship.
It is also Beijing’s first carrier equipped with electromagnetic catapults, making China the second country after the US to deploy such technology.