The Chinese navy confirmed on Saturday that the country's most advanced aircraft carrier, CNS Fujian , will be homeported at a base in the contested South China Sea, where Beijing's territorial claims overlap with those of a number of other countries.

The Fujian , China 's third aircraft carrier and its first equipped with electromagnetic catapults to launch heavier fixed-wing aircraft, was commissioned on Wednesday at Yulin Naval Base near Sanya in Hainan province, located north of the South China Sea .

Why It Matters

China's sweeping claims of sovereignty—based on its so-called " historic rights "—over most of the South China Sea have been challenged by the United States and its regional allies and partners, particularly the Philippines, leading to standoffs and marit

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