As China girds for a deepening global rivalry with the United States, Beijing is testing how far its navy can operate from home, and how well its warships can work together on the open seas. In recent exercises involving two aircraft carriers, China gave a bold display of how it seeks to assert dominance in the western Pacific.

随着中国为中美两国之间日益激烈的全球竞争做艰苦的准备，北京方面正在检验海军在远离本土的水域作战的能力，以及军舰在公海上协同作战的水平。在最近举行的有两艘航母参加的军事演习中，中国高调展示了在西太平洋寻求主导地位的雄心。

From late May and for much of June in seas near Japan, the two Chinese carriers — the Liaoning and the Shandong — practiced takeoffs and landings of fighter jets and helicopters, as many as 90 or more times on some days, according to reports from the Japanese military’s joint staff. Each carrier was protected by several warships.

据日本防卫省统合幕僚监部报告，在今年5月下旬和6月份的大部分时间里，两艘中国航母——辽宁舰和山东舰——曾在离日本不远的海域进行战斗机和直升机起降演习，有些日子的起降次数多达90次以上。每艘航母均由数艘军舰护航。

The exercises, which caused Japan to express “serious concerns,” were a template for how China could use a growing collection of aircraft carriers to project armed power into the Pacific and try to overawe Asian neighbors aligned with Washington.

这些引发日本“严重关切”的演习提供了一个样板，即中国会如何运用日益壮大的航母舰队向太平洋投射武装力量、震慑美国在亚洲的盟友。

This was the first time that two Chinese carriers had ventured together past the “first island chain” — the barrier of islands east of China that includes the Japanese island of Okinawa, where U.S. Marines are based, and Taiwan — and toward Guam, a U.S. military hub, said Christopher Sharman, the director of the China Maritime Studies Institute at the U.S. Naval War College. Guam is part of what is called the “second island chain,” which stretches from Tokyo to south of Palau.

美国海军战争学院中国海事研究所所长夏曼(Christopher Sharman)说，这是两艘中国航母首次共同穿越“第一岛链”，朝美国军事重地关岛的方向行驶。“第一岛链”指的是位于中国以东的一串太平洋岛屿，包括驻扎着美国海军陆战队的冲绳岛，以及台湾。关岛属于从日本列岛延伸到帕劳群岛以南水域的“第二岛链”。

The Chinese naval activities near or past the second island chain signal that U.S. forces “operating in the vicinity of Guam could be at greater risk,” Mr. Sharman said.

中国海军在第二岛链附近或更远的水域活动表明，美军“在关岛附近活动可能会面临更大危险”，夏曼说。

“These aircraft carrier operations are a harbinger of what is to come,” said Mr. Sharman, a former U.S. Navy attaché in Beijing. China “wants its carriers to be capable of operating independently at remote locations from the mainland, in both peacetime and wartime,” he said. “That means training for longer periods of time and at increasing distances from China.”

“这些航母的行动是未来会发生什么的预兆，”曾任美国驻华使团海军武官的夏曼说。中国“想让其航母在远离大陆的海域独立行动，无论是在和平时期还是在打仗的时候”，夏曼说。“这意味着在离中国越来越远的水域进行时间更长时间的训练。”

China’s navy said last month that the two carriers and accompanying warships were practicing “far-sea defense and joint operations.” The two carrier groups also squared off against each other in a simulated confrontation, said Xinhua, China’s official news agency.

中国海军上个月表示，辽宁舰、山东舰航母编队正在开展训练，检验“远海防卫和联合作战能力”。中国的官方通讯社新华社报道称，辽宁舰、山东舰航母编队还进行了“互为对手的实战对抗”演习。

Some jet fighters that took off from the carriers flew perilously close to Japanese surveillance aircraft, Japan’s defense ministry said.

日本防务省说，从这两艘航母上起飞的某些中国战斗机曾在空中危险地接近日本侦察机。

The exercises were not just for show. Operating aircraft from carriers is demanding and risky, Mr. Sharman said. By training far out in the Pacific, the carriers and accompanying vessels gained “valuable operating experience in unfamiliar waters, thereby providing the crew with skills that are applicable to future operations elsewhere in the world,” he said.

夏曼表示，这些演习并非只是作秀。航母舰载机操作要求高、风险大。通过在太平洋进行远海训练，中国的航母编队获得了“在不熟悉的水域操作的宝贵经验，从而让舰员掌握未来在世界其他地方开展行动所需的技能”，他说。

In the coming years, China may deploy aircraft carriers and accompanying naval vessels to bolster its claims in the South China Sea or in territorial disputes with South Korea or Japan. China could also send carriers to more distant parts of the world as a show of force to defend its economic and security interests.

未来几年，中国可能会派遣航母编队进入南中国海，以加强中国在该海域的主权主张，或把航母编队派到与韩国或日本有领土争端的水域。中国也可能派遣航母编队进入世界更远的水域，作为它捍卫本国经济和安全利益的武力展示。

China has only one significant overseas military base, in Djibouti, but carriers give it “the option of carrying out myriad aviation missions anywhere its navy sails,” said Timothy R. Heath, a senior researcher at RAND, an organization that provides analysis for the Pentagon and other clients. “The most important routes are those to the Middle East along the Indian Ocean.”

虽然中国在海外只有一个位于吉布提的主要军事基地，但航母给了中国“在其海军所到之处执行各种飞行任务的选择”，兰德公司高级研究员蒂莫西·希思说。兰德公司为五角大楼和其他客户提供分析服务。“最重要的航线是经印度洋通往中东的那些。”

Still, the carriers are not a guarantee of Chinese regional maritime dominance.

尽管如此，航母并不能保证中国在东亚地区占据海上支配地位。

In a toe-to-toe confrontation between China and the United States, each side’s carriers could be vulnerable to the other’s torpedoes or missiles. Given those risks, carriers may play a limited role, at least initially, in any potential clash over Taiwan, the self-governed island that China claims as its territory, several military experts said.

在中美正面交锋的情况下，双方的航母都可能易受对方鱼雷或导弹的打击。考虑到这种风险，在任何可能因台湾问题（中国宣称对自治的台湾拥有主权）爆发的冲突中，航母可能发挥的作用有限，至少在冲突的早期是如此，一些军事专家说。

And because Taiwan is close to mainland China’s coast and its many air bases, the aircraft carriers would not be crucial for trying to dominate the skies in a war over the island, said Oriana Skylar Mastro, a fellow at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University who studies Chinese military strategy.

在斯坦福大学的弗里曼·斯波格利国际问题研究所研究中国军事战略的研究员梅惠琳(Oriana Skylar Mastro)指出，由于台湾靠近中国大陆沿海及其众多的空军基地，航母在对台作战中争夺制空权方面并非关键因素。

China could send its carriers farther out into the Pacific to fend off U.S. forces steaming to Taiwan’s aid, though the carriers would then be much more exposed to U.S. attacks, Ms. Mastro said.

中国能把航母编队派入更远的太平洋水域，以阻拦驰援台湾的美军，但这些航母会更容易受到美国的打击，梅惠琳说。

But China could also deploy the carriers as part of an effort to choke Taiwan off from the world.

但中国也能部署航母编队，将其作为切断台湾与世界联系的手段之一。

“Chinese aircraft carriers will be useful in imposing a blockade on Taiwan,” said Narushige Michishita, a professor at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo who studies China’s military. “Aircraft carriers can surveil large areas and put coercive pressure on both military and commercial ships and aircraft.”

“中国航母对台实施封锁将很有用，”在东京的国立政策研究大学院大学研究中国军事的道下德成教授说。“航母能对大片水域进行监视，并用武力迫胁这些水域的军用和商用船只和飞机。”

China now has three carriers, all running on diesel and generally less advanced than the United States’ 11 nuclear powered carriers. By 2040, China may have six carriers, according to U.S. Navy estimates. China appears to be building a fourth carrier, which analysts say may use nuclear power. That would give it far greater range without the need to refuel.

中国目前有三艘常规动力航母，总的来说都不如美国的11艘核动力航母先进。据美国海军估计，中国到2040年时可能拥有六艘航母。中国似乎正在建造第四艘航母，分析人士说，这艘航母可能使用核动力。届时无需加油即可实现更远的航程。

Xi Jinping, China’s top leader, appears to have decided that the country must have more carriers, and other big military assets, to cement its position as a global power. After the two Chinese carriers finished training in the Pacific this month, one of them, the Shandong, docked in Hong Kong, and selected members of the public were allowed to tour the vessel.

中国最高领导人习近平似乎已下定决心，中国必须拥有更多航母以及其他大型军事装备，以巩固中国作为全球军事强国的地位。中国的两艘航母本月完成了太平洋训练后，其中的山东舰停靠香港，并对部分公众开放参观。

“Politically, they are one of the ultimate status symbols for any country,” Mr. Heath, the researcher at RAND, said of aircraft carriers. China’s enthusiastic publicity about the carrier maneuvers in the Pacific indicated that its “leadership highly values the political symbolism of owning such a powerful warship,” Mr. Heath said.

“从政治上看，它们是一个国家终极身份的象征之一，”兰德公司研究员希思在谈到航母时说。中国对航母在太平洋进行训练的热情宣传表明，中国“领导层高度重视拥有如此强大的战舰在政治上的象征意义”，希思说。

Decades ago, Chinese leaders had resisted acquiring aircraft carriers, deciding that they were too costly at a time when China’s economy was much smaller.

 几十年前，中国领导人曾对航母持反对态度。中国当时的经济规模远小于今天，他们认为航母的造价过高。

That began to change after 1996, when the United States deployed two carrier battle groups to the waters near Taiwan to deter Beijing from further escalating tensions with the island. China had been firing ballistic missiles near Taiwan’s main ports, hoping to scare voters inclined to support President Lee Teng-hui, who Beijing saw as pushing pro-independence policies.

这种情况在1996年之后开始改变。当时，美国派遣两个航母战斗群驶入台湾附近海域，威慑北京不要进一步升级台海紧张局势。中国曾一直朝着台湾主要港口的方向发射弹道导弹，希望用这个方法来吓唬那些倾向于支持李登辉总统的选民，北京认为他在推行台独政策。

Two years after that crisis, a Chinese businessman bought a rusting, unfinished ex-Soviet carrier that was owned by Ukraine. China later bought and finished the ship, which debuted in 2012 as its first carrier, called the Liaoning.

那场危机的两年后，一名中国商人从乌克兰买来一艘锈迹斑斑、尚未完工的前苏联航母。中国政府后来买下了这艘航母，对其进行了改装，并在2012年将这艘命名为“辽宁号”的首艘航母正式入列海军。

These days, budget limits are not such a worry for China’s navy. But its leaders are not rushing headlong into carrier expansion.

近些年来，预算对中国海军来说已不再是问题。但中国领导人并没有急于增加航母的数量。

中国的第三艘航空母舰福建号在2024年进行了首次海试。

The Shandong — China’s second carrier and its first built at home — was launched in 2017. The latest, the Fujian, was launched in 2022 and has still not been placed into active service. The Fujian uses an electromagnetic catapult system to launch aircraft, which is more technically challenging than using a deck with a ski slope-like ramp, but makes it possible to fly heavier, better-armed planes.

2017年下水的山东舰是中国的第二艘航母，也是第一艘国产航母。最近在2022年下水的航母是福建舰，至今仍未入列服役。福建舰采用电磁弹射系统，在技术上比飞机从甲板上滑跃式起飞更具挑战性，但也让搭载更重型、装备更精良的舰载机成为可能。

“Chinese carrier operations are still in a rudimentary phase,” said Mr. Michishita, of the institute in Tokyo. China, he said, is “taking a steady step-by-step approach to improve their capabilities.”

“中国航母的作战能力仍处于起步阶段。”东京研究大学院的道下德成说。他说，中国正在“采取循序渐进的策略来提升作战能力”。