China’s second carrier, the Shandong, which is over 300 meters (1,000 feet) long and was commissioned in 2019, is crucial to the nation’s regional aspirations under President Xi Jinping, who has overseen a significant naval development that has unnerved its Asian neighbors.
The Shandong and its escort ships, which include the destroyers Zhanjiang and Yanan, as well as the frigate Yuncheng, will visit the Chinese financial hub for five days and participate in “tours and cultural exchange activities,” according to a statement from Beijing.
The Shandong’s voyage occurred days after it finished live fire exercises in the western Pacific with China’s first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning.
While the escorts docked at the People’s Liberation Army naval base on Stonecutters Island, which is located on the northern side of Hong Kong’s renowned Victoria Harbour, it anchored off the western coast.
