• Commissioning takes place in China’s island province of Hainan. 
• Beijing directs billions of dollars into defence in recent years. 
• Over 2,000 from navy, carrier construction units attend ceremony. 

China’s third aircraft carrier entered service after a ceremony this week marking its handover to the navy, state media said on Friday, a key milestone in President Xi Jinping’s drive to modernise the military.

The Fujian joins China’s fleet as Beijing seeks to project maritime power against the United States and others in the region, with flashpoints including competing territorial claims in the South China Sea and persisting tensions with Taiwan.

The official commissioning, attended by Xi, took place at a naval port in China’s southern island province of Hainan on Wednesday, Xinhua reported.

Footage of the proceedings released by state broadcaster CCTV showed Xi and other top officials from the ruling Communist Party (CCP) in attendance at the port.

But Beijing has directed billions of dollars into defence in recent years, a trend that has unnerved some governments in East Asia despite China insisting its aims are peaceful.

The navy in particular has seen a massive expansion as leaders seek to grow China’s reach in the Pacific and challenge a US-led alliance.

After conducting sea trials in recent months, the Fujian now joins China’s other two carriers in active operation, the Liaoning and the Shandong.

The Soviet-built Liaoning is the oldest, commissioned in 2012, while the Shandong entered service in 2019.

Analysts have said that the latest carrier boasts more advanced take-off systems, allowing the Chinese air force to deploy jets carrying larger payloads and more fuel.

‘Grand and enthusiastic’

More than 2,000 people from the navy and the carrier’s construction units were present at Wednesday’s ceremony, standing on the dock in rows, Xinhua reported.

“The atmosphere was grand and enthusiastic,” it said.

“After the ceremony, Xi Jinping boarded the Fujian… and learned about the development of the aircraft carrier system combat capabilities and the construction and application of the electromagnetic catapult system,” it said.

The Fujian is equipped with an electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS), a more efficient technology than conventional steam-powered methods.

Xinhua said Xi “personally decided” that the Fujian would adopt an EMALS system.

The only other aircraft carrier currently equipped with this technology is the USS Gerald R Ford.

Xi also went into the carrier’s control tower to learn about flight operations, Xinhua said, adding that he “solemnly signed the ship’s logbook”.

The Fujian had already been in the spotlight several times leading up to its formal commissioning.

Chinese defence officials confirmed in September that the Fujian had sailed through the sensitive Taiwan Strait to carry out “scientific research trials and training missions” in the South China Sea.

Analysts say the transit was likely intended to send a strong signal to potential adversaries.

Defence ministries in Japan and Taiwan said at the time that they had detected the Fujian’s movements, which brought it within approximately 200 kilometres (125 miles) of the disputed Senkaku Islands, known in Chinese as the Diaoyu Islands.

China also released videos in September of aircraft takeoffs and landings aboard the Fujian, including with its fifth-generation J-35 stealth fighter.

State media hailed it as a “new breakthrough” in the development of Chinese carriers and a “major milestone” in the modernisation of the navy.

US President Donald Trump said on Thursday that Iran has requested the lifting of heavy US sanctions, adding that he is open to discussing the possibility.

“Frankly, Iran has been asking if the sanctions could be lifted. They’re facing very heavy US sanctions, which makes it really hard,” Trump said during a dinner with Central Asian leaders at the White House.

“I’m open to hearing that, and we’ll see what happens but I would be open to it,” he added.

Western powers, including the United States, have long accused Tehran of pursuing nuclear weapons, a charge Iran denies, insisting its program is purely peaceful.

Iran has been under years of international sanctions, particularly since Washington withdrew from the 2015 nuclear deal in 2018 and reimposed strict economic measures.

Tensions escalated in June, when Israel launched an unprecedented bombing campaign against Iran, triggering a 12-day war that briefly drew in the United States with targeted strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities.

The conflict marked by Iranian missile and drone attacks in retaliation — derailed the fragile nuclear talks that had been ongoing between Tehran and Washington since April.

Trump said Iran had once been the “bully of the Middle East,” but “no longer has the possibility of nuclear weapons.”

The Republican president, who returned to office in January, has repeatedly claimed that recent strikes destroyed much of Iran’s nuclear infrastructure, though the full extent of the damage remains unclear.

In September, the United Nations reinstated sanctions against Tehran under the so-called “snapback” mechanism after Britain, France and Germany triggered the process.

Those measures bar dealings linked to the Islamic republic’s nuclear and ballistic missile activities.

Oman, which has hosted several rounds of US-Iran nuclear talks, has called on both sides to return to negotiations.

The talks had aimed for a new agreement that would curb Iran’s nuclear activities in return for sanctions relief.

WASHINGTON: US right-wing influencers falsely linked New York´s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani to the Daesh militant group, amplifying a fabricated statement that garnered millions of views on social media, researchers said on Thursday.

Mamdani — the first Muslim and South Asian elected to lead America´s largest city — secured a decisive victory this week in the face of fierce attacks on his policy proposals and religious background.

A slew of anti-Mamdani accounts on the Elon Musk-owned platform X have circulated a statement purportedly from Daesh titled “Operation Manhattan Project,” which alluded to an attack in New York City on Election Day against what it called “American aggression.”

Among the influencers who linked the fake communique to Mamdani was Laura Loomer, a conservative influencer who has Trump’s ear.

“The Muslims can’t think of a better way for the Muslims to celebrate the victory of a Muslim mayoral candidate today than by committing an ISIS (Islamic State) attack in NYC,” Loomer wrote in a post on X that racked up more than 200,000 views.

Other conservative accounts cited the purported statement to falsely claim that the extremist group had endorsed Mamdani as mayor.

The posts collectively amassed millions of views across the platform.

The purported letter, which displayed the logo of the Amaq News Agency, was fabricated, according to multiple researchers including the disinformation watchdog NewsGuard.

Meili Criezis, an American University academic, told the watchdog that the supposed communique did not bear the hallmarks of other statements that emanated from Amaq.

“Amaq is used [by the Islamic State] to share news and claim responsibility for attacks,” Criezis said.

“It doesn’t make threats like what is stated in the screenshot.”

The Information Epidemiology Lab, another research group, also said the circulated communique “sharply” diverged from established Daesh “media practices in language, style, formatting, and distribution.”

The fabricated statement appeared to first surface on the far-right message board 4chan, a known haven for conspiracy theories.

In recent months, Mamdani, a long-standing supporter of the Palestinian cause, has vocally denounced antisemitism as well as the Islamophobia he himself suffered following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

The 34-year-old state lawmaker — who appealed to voters by pledging to tackle the soaring cost of living — has repeatedly been targeted by racist tropes and misinformation.

In the weeks leading up to the highly anticipated election, AFP’s fact-checkers debunked several false internet claims targeting Mamdani, including that a noncitizen illegally voted for him and that one of his campaign staffers posed beside graffiti of Nazi swastika.