Beijing is developing a military vessel that is a hybrid of an amphibious assault ship and aircraft carrier, which would enable China to project its power far from its shores sooner than expected, according to procurement documents.
As Beijing’s great rivalry with Washington turns openly hostile, and the US military seeks to reassert its traditional dominance in the Asia-Pacific region, the planned ship could accelerate the People’s Liberation Army’s attempts to match American power.
According to documents published online on July 19, the 708th Research Institute of China State Shipbuilding, an institution involved in the development of military vessels, is tendering for research and modelling work worth Rmb478.3m ($68m).