The Internationalism

Internationalism No. 83, January 2026 Page 10 From the series Asian giants With the commissioning of the Fujian , China inaugurates the three-aircraft-carrier era . The building of the fourth, fifth, and sixth aircraft carriers is widely seen as just a matter of time. However, since the previous Liaoning and Shandong carriers are less advanced, the prospect of always having an advanced aircraft carrier deployed will only become possible with the launching of the fifth: three are needed to maintain a steady rotation with one in use, one in maintenance, and one in training. The real novelty is the capacity to launch the AEW&C Xi'an KJ-600 — Airborne Early Warning and Control aircraft, i.e., planes equipped with radars — from the ship's deck thanks to an electromagnetic catapult: this allows the carrier to operate beyond the range of AEW&C aircraft taking off from land bases. The Sichuan , a helicopter carrier amphibious assaul...

Internationalism No. 82, December 2025 Page 4 On September 26 th , The Hindu wrote: The global chessboard has shifted. Supply chains are in motion. China is repositioning capital. Southeast Asia is building alternative corridors. India is claiming a role in the Indo-Pacific equation, but its export architecture still rests on a few coastal enclaves . The newspaper, based in Chennai (Tamil Nadu), outlines Asian capital movements that show that India is lagging behind in the internationalisation of its key sectors. The four States of Gujarat, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, and Karnataka alone account for over 70% of all Indian goods exports, while the most populous States — Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, and Madhya Pradesh — remain on the sidelines, responsible for only 5% of foreign trade combined. In the Indian debate, the export of goods is treated as an index of the international competitiveness of States. This is tied to the difficulty of attracti...