The Chinese navy launched its third aircraft carrier on Friday — and named it after the province directly across from Taiwan.

The Fujian features a full-length flight deck and a modern catapult system, an improvement over the two other aircraft carriers in the Chinese fleet — the Shandong, built in 2019, and the Liaoning, a refitted carrier purchased second-hand from Ukraine in the ’90s.

The Fujian was launched to much celebratory pomp, Chinese state media reported, with dozens of naval personnel singing the Chinese national anthem as the ship departed Jiangnan shipyard in Shanghai.

Each member of China’s carrier fleet is named for a coastal province. But the name of the Fujian raises eyebrows because of speculation that China may be planning to use force to bring Taiwan — a self-governing democracy — under Beijing’s control.

With the launch of the Fujian, the Chinese navy has the second-greatest number of aircraft carriers of any world military. The US has the most with 11 such vessels.

With Post wires