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Global

China confirms building second aircraft carrier


    BEIJING (Reuters) - China on Thursday confirmed it is building a second aircraft carrier, as neighbours worry about Beijing's new assertiveness to claims in the South China Sea.

    Defence Ministry spokesman Yang Yujun said the carrier had been designed in China and was being built in the port of Dalian.

    The construction drew on experiences from the country's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, bought from Ukraine in 1998 and refitted in China.

    (Reporting By Ben Blanchard, Writing By Megha Rajagopalan; Editing by Nick Macfie)