China is building two aircraft carriers at a Shanghai shipyard, the latest addition to its beefed-up naval force, Reuters reported, citing an unnamed source with ties to the Communist Party. China’s leadership had previously confirmed that it is developing one aircraft carrier, a retrofitted Soviet vessel purchased from Ukraine in 1998. Geng Yansheng, China’s military spokesman, sought to reassure the country’s neighbors by emphasizing that the aircraft carrier is only for training and research purposes, though he added it had the right to protect its maritime territory. State media also reported on Wednesday that recent US surveillance flights near the Chinese coast had damaged the US-China military-to-military relationships, particularly after the alleged interception of a US reconnaissance flight in the East China Sea on June 29.
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