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China’s aircraft carrier No 4 on track with ‘no technical bottleneck’, admiral reveals in first official confirmation
- Whether Type 004 will feature nuclear propulsion will ‘soon be announced’, PLA Navy admiral and political overseer reveals
- China has the capability to deliver ‘all-round response’ to the US carrier fleet in the western Pacific, Yuan Huazhi says on NPC sidelines
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Hayley Wongin Beijing
China is building its fourth aircraft carrier, a naval admiral and political supervisor has confirmed, adding that the going has been smooth on the technical front.
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The fresh update on China’s opaque warship development programme came during annual legislative meetings in Beijing where People’s Liberation Army (PLA) representatives make rare public appearances.
Asked whether China’s newest carrier would be nuclear-powered, PLA Navy political commissar Yuan Huazhi said this “will soon be announced”, according to a video interview posted by Hong Kong Commercial Daily on social media platform Weibo.
The admiral added that he had not heard of any “technical bottleneck” regarding the aircraft carrier, suggesting its progress was on track.
Yuan’s comments, coming on the sidelines as this year’s National People’s Congress (NPC) opened on Tuesday, represent the first official confirmation of Beijing’s efforts to build a fourth aircraft carrier, commonly known as the Type 004.
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Illustrations of the warship, however, have long been circulating on the internet.
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