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BEIJING –China’s Fujian aircraft carrier took to the water for maiden sea trials on Wednesday, state media said, a key next step in a vast naval build-up by Beijing as it carves out a more assertive role for itself in the Pacific and beyond.
It departed from eastern Shanghai’s Jiangnan Shipyard at around 8:00 am, state news agency Xinhua said. China has stepped up a massive expansion of its naval forces in recent years, as it seeks to expand its reach in the Pacific and challenge a US-led alliance system.Tensions have notably flared in the disputed South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost in its entirety, and near the self-ruled island of Taiwan, where it has deployed the Shandong aircraft carrier.
The build-up is aimed at “addressing the situation with Taiwan militarily, if need be” as well as “achieving a greater degree of control or domination over China’s near-seas region, particularly the South China Sea”, the report said.
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