CHINA on Wednesday launched a new type of domestically built warship in its latest bid to modernise its military, state media said.
The launch comes after China presented its first home-produced aircraft carrier in April.
Amid ongoing tensions in the South China Sea, Beijing is taking an increasingly assertive stance in the waters it claims.
China’s new 10,000-tonne destroyer will undergo extensive testing.
The warship “is equipped with new air defence, anti-missile, anti-ship and anti-submarine weapons,” China’s official news agency Xinhua said.
According to the state-run Global Times, the vessel type is thought to be the first type 055 destroyer – a successor to the smaller type 052D destroyers.
Beijing has reasserted its “indisputable sovereignty” over parts of the South China Sea after the Trump administration vowed to prevent China from taking territory in the region.The US has repeatedly sent military ships and planes near disputed islands, calling them “freedom of navigation” operations to ensure access to key shipping and air routes. Both sides have accused each other of “militarising” the South China Sea. — Online