People all over the world are talking about Trump, and since a series of changes caused by Trump are related to China, Western media always focus on our country's overall strength, especially the construction of the new aircraft carrier, for reporting and discussion.
Regarding the fourth aircraft carrier currently under construction, Western media have generally concluded that China will definitely use nuclear power in the past year. In addition, they have also found that while China is building the fourth aircraft carrier with great urgency, the fifth one is already about to appear.
No wonder Western media are exclaiming that China has already solved not only the issue of nuclear power, but also its shipbuilding speed has already left the United States far behind.
Why do foreign media believe it is nuclear-powered?
In fact, whether an aircraft carrier is conventional or nuclear-powered can be roughly inferred from its structural appearance during construction. The construction of an aircraft carrier is a systematic and massive project. Even if it is highly secret, there are satellites in the sky, so Western media can analyze some commercial satellite images to get a general idea.
Since the end of 2025, regarding the construction of the fourth aircraft carrier, foreign media seem to have found other "evidence" that it is nuclear-powered.
One piece of evidence is that according to commercial satellite images, foreign media seem to have discovered radiation shielding structures on the fourth aircraft carrier. On a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, a large shielding device is needed to isolate the radiation from the nuclear reactor, which is similar to a box that isolates the reactor and functions as a shielding box.
Foreign media analyzed the photos and found this structure similar to the shielding box structure on American nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. Since the United States is also building another new aircraft carrier, the "Kennedy," which uses nuclear power, the overall structure of China's fourth aircraft carrier and the U.S. aircraft carrier is consistent.
Therefore, foreign media believe this is the best evidence. Evidence two, Japanese media speculate that the overall size of the fourth aircraft carrier is larger, meaning that the number of carrier-based aircraft it can carry will also be more.
This requires the aircraft carrier to have stronger power and strong endurance. The various power demands on the aircraft carrier will also increase. In this case, the best way to ensure this is nuclear power, while conventional power may struggle to meet the needs.
The above evidence and analysis are logical, and even some foreign media have found equipment that seems to be transporting nuclear devices at a large shipyard in northern China.
Certainly, this analysis is based on satellite photos. They thus draw two different views. The first is that the nuclear device is used for the future power system of the aircraft carrier. The second speculation is that the Chinese may be using the construction of the aircraft carrier to test some nuclear devices.
In short, these analyses are not empirical evidence, but they are relatively rigorous. Therefore, foreign media generally conclude that the new aircraft carrier is definitely nuclear-powered. This is both a need and a natural result after China's shipbuilding technology has developed to a certain extent.
Because the West believes that China's shipbuilding speed has long surpassed that of the United States, and they are also speculating that another aircraft carrier is being built in parallel with the fourth one.
The Navy Scale Will Be 50% Larger Than the US
Going back to the beginning of the article, Western media talk about Trump. Recently, The New York Times published a commentary article, and some experts interviewed generally believe that due to Trump's various actions, the post-World War II world order and its foundation no longer exist. Most importantly, China is no longer the same China as before.
One view is that according to current development, China's overall economic scale is actually about 30% larger than that of the United States, and China's industry is about twice that of the United States. It is on this basis that China's navy scale and shipbuilding speed have far exceeded that of the United States. They even came to the conclusion that in the next 5 to 10 years, China's navy scale will be 50% larger than that of the United States.
Whether this analysis and speculation are correct or not, from another perspective, if China's navy scale really develops rapidly in the coming period, a key factor is that our shipbuilding speed is getting faster and faster.
The U.S. Navy has developed much earlier, and its naval ship scale was much larger than ours. However, up to now, the scale of various types of ships in the Chinese Navy is comparable to that of the U.S. Navy. This is the place that has made Trump feel uneasy all along.
A report said that Trump even sent text messages to relevant officials in the middle of the night, asking why the U.S. Navy ships looked rusty? Wasn't there anyone to solve the problem? Trump's concerns and questions are exactly the embarrassment of the U.S. shipbuilding industry.
The U.S. Navy has been developing for many years, and many of its equipment are now at the critical point where they need to be replaced on a large scale. But at present, the huge mess of the U.S. shipbuilding industry cannot afford the entire process of manufacturing, replacing, and maintaining. This is why the new aircraft carrier of the U.S. Navy keeps being delayed in launching, which directly leads to other aircraft carriers needing maintenance having to queue up.
Trump can clearly see through public information that China's naval ships are shiny and bright. This is not only because we maintain them well, but most importantly, many of them are newly built and launched in recent years. Therefore, the West has been analyzing how fast our shipbuilding speed is.
If the United States cannot reach the same speed in the future, they will face bigger problems. More and more retired ships, but new ships cannot catch up. In terms of overall scale, the U.S. Navy's comprehensive strength will be surpassed by us.
In other words, the faster our shipbuilding speed, the more it reflects the faster the decline of the U.S. Navy. In this situation, they certainly want to analyze the construction situation of our fourth and even fifth aircraft carriers intensively.
The fifth aircraft carrier is said to be conventional power, and the construction site should be in a place in central China. The West's analysis is that China's shipbuilding speed has caught up, and although nuclear power is a hard requirement, conventional power can also ensure the execution of various tasks in the near-sea area for the future navy.
Because nuclear power has almost unlimited range, but the logistics supply on board must also be guaranteed in time. In the case of executing long-range missions, nuclear power has advantages. But for executing near-sea missions, conventional power has more direct advantages.
Therefore, the West generally believes that China's aircraft carrier construction has a three-dimensional plan, not just a matter of speed and quantity, but the most important thing is to ensure various needs. The United States will naturally become increasingly worried, which is like playing a jigsaw puzzle game. China is no longer pasting a local part, but has a global and complete picture. Whether it is the number or speed, and the gap with the United States, are undergoing drastic changes.
References:
"Nuclear-Powered Aircraft Carrier Appears? China's New Ship Attracts Foreign Media Attention" Observers' Network, November 13, 2025
"Foreign Media Pay Attention to Our Two Aircraft Carriers Exercising Outside the First Island Chain" Observers' Network, June 11, 2025
Original: toutiao.com/article/7606597899115348499/
Statement: This article represents the personal views of the author.