China has unveiled plans to build more aircraft carriers after commissioning its first last year, as the country extends its influence amid territorial disputes with neighbors including Japan and Vietnam.
Future aircraft carriers will carry more fighter jets than the Liaoning, Rear Adm. Song Xue told foreign military attaches Tuesday in Beijing, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. The Liaoning carrier was built around a Soviet-era hull and began sea trials last year.
The remarks signal that the People's Liberation Army will push ahead with a modernization plan under which defense spending has more than doubled since 2006. China has become more assertive in pressing sovereignty claims against Japan as well as Vietnam and the Philippines in the South China Sea.