WW3 FEARS: Beijing to send extra aircraft carrier to South China Sea over Trump hostility
BEIJING remains braced for a war with the US and its new President Donald Trump as it announced a second aircraft carrier is to be based in the South China Sea.
By VICKIIE OLIPHANT
Express.co.uk
Wed, Feb 1, 2017
The billionaire President could be about to sanction an intervention in the row over the artificial islands in the South China Sea, which China stakes claim over.
The chance of conflict has rapidly escalated, with security experts warning Mr Trump had no chance of taking the islands.
And China’s state media has already announced it will “step up preparedness for possible military conflict with US”.
Maritime security has been boosted and reports now suggest Beijing could be about to move a brand new aircraft carrier to the area.
Construction of The Shandong, China’s first indigenous aircraft carrier which was named after a province in China’s east coast, began in 2014.
Three years later, the carrier is said to be “taking shape” – and a report suggests the vessel could be bound for the South China Sea.
Being built at the eastern port of Dalian, the ship is currently being built at a rapid pace to ensure it is ready to handle “complicated situations” that have arisen since Donald Trump’s inauguration last month.
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