China confirmed Thursday, that they are building its second aircraft carrier according to the country’s Ministry of National Defense. But unlike their first aircraft carrier, this one will be entirely made in China, using China’s own designs and technology.

China’s second aircraft carrier was being built in Dalian, a port city located in northeast China according to Col. Yang Yujun, a spokesman from the Ministry of National Defense.

Their first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, served the Chinese Navy for the first time in 2012. It was made from a castoff, uncompleted vessel from Ukraine and only reconstructed by the Chinese Navy.

Liaoning aircraft carrier inducted in Dalian in September 2012, Source: Wikipedia

“After taking into account a range of factors, the relevant authorities launched work on developing a second aircraft carrier, and we are now undertaking our own indigenous design and construction,” Colonel Yang said, according to a transcript of the news briefing on the ministry’s website.

“The design and construction of this second aircraft carrier have absorbed valuable experience from scientific experiments and training with the Liaoning,” he said.

The said carrier will bring PLA’s Navy a step closer in becoming a powerful force, and will be more capable in asserting China’s territorial claims.

“We have a long coastline and a broad maritime jurisdiction,” Colonel Yang said. “Defending national maritime security, and safeguarding sovereignty over territorial seas and over maritime rights and interests, are sacred duties of China’s armed forces.”

Over the recent years China has claimed several islands in the South China Sea. Beijing is insisting that the effort is primarily for civilian purposes despite reports of building infrastructure that is capable of supporting the Chinese Air Force.

The South China Sea is believed to have massive deposits of oil and gas, while $5 trillion of shipping trade passes every year.

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