As tensions between Beijing and Tokyo continue to escalate, China’s defense ministry has dismissed the potential of the US and Japan sinking its newest and most advanced aircraft carrier, Fujian, as wishful thinking.
Long story short: on November 7, Japan’s PM Takaichi triggered a diplomatic storm when she told a parliamentary session that a hypothetical Chinese naval blockade or invasion of Taiwan was a “survival-threatening situation.”
The phrasing invoked the right to collective self-defense according to the 2015 security legislation. Therefore, indirectly implying that Tokyo could deploy its Self-Defense Forces (SDF) in response to Chinese aggression against Taiwan.
However, angered by what it considers an unprecedented provocation and breach of the post-war order, China hit back with a slew of retaliatory measures, including reaching out to the United Nations, bringing the US President Donald Trump into the loop with a rare phone call, and suspending the export of Japanese seafood, among other things.
Fujian Caught In The Middle Of Japan-China Tensions
The diplomatic standoff, considered the worst since the 2012 Senkaku Island Crisis, took an ugly turn on November 27 when a Chinese reporter attending a Chinese Ministry of National Defense press conference raised the claim made by a Japanese media outlet that the JASDF and US forces would have the capability to sink the Fujian carrier if it engaged in combat in the Taiwan Strait.
Without missing a beat, Jiang Bin, spokesperson for the Chinese Defense Ministry, said that “it is nothing but sheer fantasy and an overestimation of one’s own abilities.”
The question purportedly referred to a report in a Japanese publication, The Sankei Shimbun, published on November 7, which appeared immediately after China announced the official commissioning of the carrier and quoted unidentified Japanese officials.
However, it is pertinent to note that the report did not seem to be related to the Japanese Prime Minister’s remarks about going to war with China. Nonetheless, Beijing has condemned the statement, taking it as an extension of Japan’s threat to China.
“The PLA has strong capabilities and reliable means to defeat any aggressors. Should the Japanese side dare to cross the red line and invite trouble to itself, it is destined to pay a heavy price,” Jiang Bin told CGTN in an interview.
“In history, a Chinese warship called Chih Yuen was sunk by a Japanese unit during the First Sino-Japanese War more than a century ago. That’s part of a humiliating history for the Chinese. But the Fujian carrier is not Chih Yuen. And history should never repeat. Those who challenge China’s core interests will perish,” the spokesperson added.
The Trigger
Encapsulating the threat posed by the expanding capability of the Chinese Navy, the Japanese publication wrote: “There is a sense of competition with the United States, such as adopting electromagnetic catapults that have only been installed on US aircraft carriers so far. With China now operating three carriers, one ship can be operated at all times, and by installing “flying radar”, the range of action will be greatly expanded, which will have a significant impact on the balance of forces in the Asia-Pacific region.”
It went on to note that China’s Navy has grown in size and capability, leaving the US Navy trailing and posing a security challenge even far from its shores.
“By detecting approaching enemy aircraft with an early warning aircraft called “flying radar” and intercepting them by stealth fighters and accompanying destroyers, it is possible to act even in waters away from mainland China. The combat capability of China’s aircraft carrier strike group has been greatly improved, and in case of emergency, it can meet and shoot US troops heading to East Asia in the open ocean.”
The publication then discussed a scenario where China invades Taiwan, ultimately compelling the US military and the JASDF to enter the conflict.
“Within the Japanese government, it is seen that ‘if Fujian is put into service, it must make a different choice from the previous strategy'” (Ministry of Defense officials). If the Chinese army invades Taiwan, it is also expected that the US military and the Self-Defense Forces will have to prioritize the sinking of Fujian to reduce the momentum of the Chinese ships that will attack Taiwan,” it stated, without mincing words.
These comments have become more significant now, given that Japan has declared its intention to militarily intervene in the event of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan.
For Japan, dislodging China from the Taiwan Strait is essential for survival and preventing a complete Chinese dominance. Taiwan is just 110 kilometres from Japan’s Yonaguni Island, and missiles or naval blockades targeting Taiwan could easily strike Japanese territory or disrupt vital sea lanes.
Similarly, Taiwan lies just 170 kilometers from the Japanese-controlled Senkaku Islands (Diaoyu in China), territory that Beijing actively claims and whose surrounding waters Chinese forces regularly probe.
It is believed that any large-scale attack on Taiwan would almost certainly cross this narrow maritime buffer, risking direct clashes with Japanese patrol vessels and air defenses, or deliberate Chinese strikes to neutralize Japan’s nearby bases that could be used by the US in case it decided to fight China.
Therefore, Tokyo views a Taiwan contingency as inseparable from its own territorial defense.
The Taiwan Strait, about 180 kilometers wide at its narrowest, is a shallow and strategically sensitive waterway separating mainland China from Taiwan.
In the event of a conflict, the PLAN could deploy the carrier to the strait to achieve air superiority and enforce a naval blockade to cut external interference. The carrier transited the strait during sea trials in September, with the Japanese Defense Ministry monitoring its movements.
China Says No Design Flaws On Fujian
China commissioned its newest aircraft carrier, Fujian, on November 5, officially becoming a three-carrier nation.
Not just that, it officially became the second country in the world (behind the United States) to have a flattop with a catapult-assisted take-off but arrested recovery (CATOBAR) system featuring electromagnetic catapults (EMALS).
This feature is critical as it would allow the PLAN (People’s Liberation Army Navy) fighter jets to take off with heavier weapons and fuel loads. Earlier, the USS Gerald R. Ford was the only carrier with EMALS.
The carrier was launched on June 17, 2022, at Jiangnan Shipyard in Shanghai. It underwent extensive sea trials since May 2024. The state media announced in September 2025 that the J-35 carrier-based stealth fighter, the J-15T, and the KJ-600 AWACS aircraft completed catapult launch and arrest landing tests on the carrier.
The carrier will be able to carry about 50-60 different heavy aircraft, significantly more than the capacity of PLAN’s existing carriers. Moreover, plans call for hosting anti-submarine warfare helicopters and navalized drones aboard the carrier for future combat.
On November 27, while discussing the claim by Japan about sinking Fujian, the Chinese Defense Ministry spokesperson also rebuffed claims in the American media that Fujian cannot conduct simultaneous fighter jet takeoffs and landings, and dismissed criticism by former US Navy Captain Carl Schuster, who claimed Fujian’s operational capability is only “about 60%” of the US Nimitz-class carrier.
Earlier, Schuster and retired Lt. Cmdr. Keith Stewart, a former US naval aviator, noted that the Fujian’s deck layout limits simultaneous takeoffs and landings after examining the photographs of the Fujian’s flight deck.
Schuster told CNN that the angle at which the landing area crosses Fujian’s deck is only 6 degrees off center, compared with 9 degrees on the US carriers, limiting space between the landing strip and the forward two catapults.
Additionally, Fujian’s landing area is longer than that of the Nimitz, meaning it extends too close to the bow area where aircraft are positioned for catapult-assisted launching, he said. The “longer landing area and the narrower deck angle reduce the space for repositioning the recovered aircraft,” Schuster said.
Jiang Bin said Fujian’s combat capability will be demonstrated by facts, and he has no comment on such “sour-grape” claims.
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