Days after Hong Kong celebrated its 28th anniversary under Chinese rule, China’s first domestically manufactured aircraft carrier arrived in the city on Thursday.
The Shandong, which is over 300 meters (1,000 feet) in length and was put into service in 2019, is China’s second carrier. It is essential to China’s regional ambitions under President Xi Jinping, who has overseen a significant naval buildup that has unnerved its Asian neighbors.
The Shandong, escorted by the destroyers Zhanjiang and Yanan, and the frigate Yuncheng, will visit the Chinese financial center for five days for “tours and cultural exchange activities,” according to an announcement by Beijing.
A few days after finishing combat exercises in the western Pacific with China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, the Shandong arrived.
The escorts docked at the People’s Liberation Army naval base on Stonecutters Island on the northern side of the famed harbor, while the ship anchored at the western end of Hong Kong’s Victoria Harbour.

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