TEHRAN – China’s Fujian aircraft carrier, commissioned earlier this month, marks a historic milestone in the country’s naval modernization and stands as a symbol of reassurance. More than a warship, Fujian embodies Beijing’s rise through self-reliance, stability, and a commitment to peace, projecting confidence without aggression and ensuring maritime order remains predictable and secure. 

Just on Sunday, the USS Gerald R. Ford, the world’s largest aircraft carrier, arrived in the Caribbean Sea. Framed under the pretext of narcotics operations, the deployment coincides with escalating U.S. threats against Venezuela, sparking fears it may serve as a platform for military action. Side by side, these two carriers reveal divergent paths: Fujian anchors prosperity and shared security, while the American aircraft carrier signals dominance and coercion.

Indigenous innovation

Fujian is the first carrier fully designed and built domestically, integrating advanced systems such as electromagnetic launch technology. This innovation allows the launch of heavier, fully fueled aircraft, including planes designed for intelligence gathering, surveillance, and airborne early warning. It expands operational reach and strengthens China’s ability to monitor and control the surrounding seas. Because the carrier is built entirely in China, it reduces dependence on foreign supply chains, improving reliability and maintenance efficiency. A domestically built platform also accelerates training cycles and enables doctrines tailored to China’s own maritime environment.

Defensive mission

President Xi Jinping poses for a group photo with representatives of the Fujian aircraft carrier unit at a naval port in Sanya City, South China's Hainan province, Nov 5, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

China emphasizes that Fujian’s role is defensive: safeguarding sovereignty, protecting maritime trade routes, and deterring unilateral interference. A carrier provides visible deterrence without permanent bases or territorial escalation. Its presence signals capability and intent in a way that discourages brinkmanship. It also offers measured responses—patrols, early warning flights, and anti-submarine operations—that stabilize tense situations. Regular, transparent deployments reinforce predictability, showing that China’s actions are rule-bound and stabilizing rather than provocative.

Maritime prosperity and BRI

Fujian’s importance extends to economic security. By protecting the sea lanes that carry global trade and energy, the carrier helps ensure shipping remains reliable and uninterrupted. Within the Belt and Road Initiative, these maritime corridors are vital links connecting ports, logistics hubs, and inland markets. Routes include the Malacca Strait through the South China Sea into the Western Pacific, the Indian Ocean passages to ports such as Gwadar and Hambantota, and the Red Sea–Mediterranean corridor tied to the Suez Canal and Piraeus. By deterring disruption and strengthening maritime awareness, Fujian helps keep schedules on time and stabilizes insurance costs. This reliability acts as a shield for development, making long-term investments in ports, energy terminals, and logistics parks more resilient to shocks.

Global Security Initiative

Fujian also reflects China’s Global Security Initiative, which stresses cooperation and rejects unilateral dominance. In practice, this means putting shared stability ahead of exclusive control, acting in ways that build confidence, and keeping commercial navigation free of political conditions. The carrier’s activities—joint exercises, port visits, and humanitarian missions—encourage habits of coordination rather than coercion. Its mission is framed as protecting common goods such as sea lanes, disaster response capacity, and maritime safety. By adding a credible but non-hegemonic naval capability, Fujian helps spread responsibility for security more evenly, discouraging any single power from monopolizing maritime order.

Western narratives

Western commentary often describes Fujian as “provocative,” claiming it challenges the U.S.-led order. Yet the proportionality is clear: the United States maintains eleven nuclear-powered carriers, while China has only three. Expanding China’s carrier force is not escalation by default; the real measure lies in how these ships are used. If deployments are transparent, defensive, and tied to protecting lawful commerce, they strengthen stability rather than undermine it. By clarifying thresholds and showing defensive intent, Fujian reduces the risk of crises spiraling out of control. This predictability is often overlooked in Western narratives, but it is precisely what makes Fujian a stabilizing force.

The USS Gerald R. Ford in the Caribbean

The deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to the Caribbean Sea, near Venezuela, comes against the backdrop of U.S. claims—made without evidence—that President Nicolás Maduro’s government is involved in drug trafficking networks. When America’s supercarrier positions itself off a politically sensitive coastline, the message is unmistakable: pressure, not partnership. The result is heightened alerts, counter-mobilizations, and rising tensions that make de-escalation more difficult and economic stability less certain.

Two different approaches

Fujian and the USS Gerald R. Ford embody opposing visions of maritime security. Fujian is a defensive platform, safeguarding sovereignty and trade routes while reinforcing collective stability. The Ford’s Caribbean mission, tied to U.S. threats against Venezuela, reflects unilateral force projection.

Linked to the Belt and Road and the Global Security Initiative, Fujian turns capability into stability and prosperity. The Ford, by contrast, signals coercion and heightened tension. One secures common goods through cooperation; the other compels outcomes through dominance. For a world reliant on open seas, Fujian’s approach offers a stronger anchor for peace and prosperity.