Communist China will Try to Copy Giant Soviet Aircraft Carrier in Attempt to Expand its Naval Power

London Times
March 5, 2002
China Pays £17m For Giant Soviet Carrier
By Oliver August in Beijing

CHINA has taken delivery of a Ukrainian aircraft carrier and will try to copy the decommissioned vessel in an attempt to expand its naval power. A Chinese shipyard confirmed yesterday the arrival of the carrier in the northern port city of Dalian, where military experts are expected to use the vessel as a template for China’s own carrier design. The 1,000ft Varyag is the largest of at least three former Soviet carriers acquired by China. All the vessels were bought by private companies, allegedly with links to the military, which invited naval architects from the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) to inspect them.

A Western diplomat in Beijing said: "They already have a design on their computers ready for the day when they decide to build their own carrier. They will extract the best parts of the Varyag’s design and add them to their own." The Varyag, built a decade ago, was towed from the Black Sea around the Cape to the Yellow Sea. The Soviet Navy never finished building the vessel owing to a lack of funds after the end of the Cold War. The hull is not fitted with any electronic or hydraulic equipment. It was supposed to be turned into a casino in Macau, according to the official Chinese buyer, a company called Chong Lot that has no known links to the gaming sector but has been linked to the military. When Macau awarded new casino licences last month, Chong Lot was not among successful bidders.

Analysts believe that instead the PLA could use the Varyag as a training platform for carrier take-offs and landings. The purchase and towing of the carrier has cost about £17.5 million, probably making it too expensive for use as an entertainment facility. China paid the Ukrainian Government £14 million for the hull and the Turkish Government at least £210,000 as a transit fee. The towing is said to have cost between £2 million and £3.5 million. China’s other two decommissioned ex-Soviet carriers have been turned into floating amusement parks moored in the coastal cities of Shenzhen and Tianjin. Under pressure from Washington, the carriers were stripped of their most sensitive technology before Beijing was able to buy them.

Robert Karniol, the Asia editor of Jane’s Defence Weekly, said: "The Chinese haven’t seen this type of carrier before and it could be very useful to them. They are trying to vacuum up as much knowhow as they can." Beijing has long harboured plans to build aircraft carriers to catch up with the United States in terms of power projection. Liu Huaqing, a recently retired senior general who fought with Chairman Mao in the 1930s, has spoken of the 21st century as the "century of the sea" and called for rapid naval modernisation. In response, the US Navy has said that Chinese plans could upset the regional balance of power. Independent experts say, however, that the launch of a Chinese carrier is still many years away. China’s shipyards are believed to be able to build carrier hulls, but not the catapults to launch and recover aircraft. However, former Soviet naval architects may be available to help.

CHINA has taken delivery of a Ukrainian aircraft carrier and will try to copy the decommissioned vessel in an attempt to expand its naval power

I have been saying that the PLA Navy would use Varyag as the model for their own new class of 60,000 ton aircraft carriers for the last three years. The ChiCom plan is to build three flattops with the assistance of Russian naval technicians by 2011. They already can produce four carriers simultaneously as opposed to the US ability to produce only two at the same time. I have also been stating that the ChiCom cover story of 'floating casinos' was a bogus ruse to play down the military threat that they pose in the minds of US policymakers. This represents more vindication for myself and others here on FR who have been saying the same.

The 1,000ft Varyag is the largest of at least three former Soviet carriers acquired by China.

Actually the ChiComs have acquired four Russian aircraft carriers as I have pointed on out in my earlier posts although the fourth carrier, the Kiev, may still be in transit from Russia to the PRC.

This is a PORTION of an ABC article on this very issue...

What’s to Become of the Soviet Carrier?
The Mystery of the Varyag

WORLD HEADLINES

“It could be a great tourist attraction … with pools, restaurants. It’s gold!”
— Worker at Nikolyav Shipyard, Ukraine

ABCNEWS’ Robert Krulwich searches for the Chung Lot Travel Agency
RealVideo
(download RealPlayer)

China plans to build its first aircraft carrier in 2010.

“The whole of Southeast Asia would be nervous if China was to purchase an aircraft carrier.”
— Glenn Schloss,
South China Morning Post

Suppose a country wants to buy a giant Soviet aircraft carrier … but they don’t want anyone to know. How might they do it? (ABCNEWS.com)

ABCNEWS.com
When the Cold War sputtered to an end nine years ago, there was a lot of talk about beating swords into plowshares. But poker chips?
     In one of the more bizarre tales of post-Soviet capitalism, a ship designed to wage war might instead be used as a giant pleasure craft, complete with casino and discotheque.
    It’s an unusual use of an aircraft carrier. Even more unusual are the buyers—four travel agents whose company isn’t where they say it is, and who seem to be on familiar terms with the Chinese military.
    Is something going on?

Games of Chance
     The story begins in 1989, when the once-mighty Soviet empire began to fall apart. Many big government projects simply ground to a halt.
     One of them was a Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier called the Varyag, which was handed over to the new government of Ukraine. The Ukrainians didn’t know what to do with the 37,000-ton, three-quarters-finished ship, so they put it up for auction.
     In April, Ukrainian Trade Minister Roman Shprek announced the winning bid from a surprisingly small company called the Chong Lot Travel Agency Ltd.

Why spend $20 million for an unfinished aircraft carrier, then tug it half way around the world to open a hotel/casino? (Magellan Graphix/ABCNEWS.com)

     Chong Lot proposed to tug the Varyag out of the Black Sea, through the Suez Canal and around southern Asia to the tiny Portuguese colony of Macao, just off the Chinese coast. They said they would moor the ship in Macao’s harbor and put it to peaceful use as a floating hotel and gambling parlor.
     Local reporters noted that this was “not the most normal use for an aircraft carrier.” But even stranger is the fact that even before the deal was announced, officials in Macao had warned the Chung Lot Travel that they would not be permitted to park the huge ship in their harbor.

No One At That Address
So, if Macao had already nixed the notion of a floating entertainment complex, why did Chung Lot go ahead with plans to buy the warship?
     ABCNEWS has learned that the Chung Lot Travel Agency does not have offices in Macao—at least not at the address they gave in their bid for the Varyag. In fact, there’s no such company listed anywhere in Macao.
     It turns out that Chung Lot is owned by a Hong Kong firm called Chin Luck (Holdings) Company.
     Four of Chin Luck’s six board members hail from the same area in China—Shandong Province—which just happens to be where the Chinese Navy builds its ships. And Chin Luck’s chairman is a former career military officer with the People’s Liberation Army. Coincidence?

Who’s Buying?
The question is, who really is buying this carrier? Four travel agents with a lot of money and a dream? Or are officials of Chung Lot Travel agents for somebody else?

Click here for a closer look at the People’s Liberation Army’s business empire.

    “Logic and common sense tell us that it’s really a front for the PLA to purchase an aircraft carrier for China,” says Glenn Schloss, a reporter at Hong Kong’s South China Morning Post. The whole of Southeast Asia would be nervous if China was to purchase an aircraft carrier.”
     If the unfinished, rusting hulk of the Varyag could help China develop something like the sophisticated modern carriers that the United States likes to send into trouble spots around the world, leaders outside of Southeast Asia would be alarmed as well. No one but Beijing is eager to see China projecting its power closer to Japan and Taiwan.
     On the other hand, no one’s going to worry if a few entrepreneurs turn the flat-top into a floating discotheque —even though Macao will follow Hong Kong and become part of China in December of 1999.
     The trouble is, Chong Lot has already paid the first $2 million for the Varyag. And we still don’t know what they’re buying it for.

15:22 2001-11-02

DMIRY LITVINOVICH: BUSINESS IN UKRAINE. OR VARYAG’S LAST TRIP

How pitiful it is to take leave of the USSR’s former grandeur.

The country where we were born has disappeared from geographical maps, and all we have now is to complain about unwise politicians.

At the beginning of the 80s, in Nikolaev plant building an up-to-date aircraft-carrier Varyag was launched. This was the aircraft-carrier of new generation, leaving behind American “brothers” what about technical descriptions and quantity of armament on board. In its building, unique engineering working were used, allowing to aircraft to take off practically without starting run.

The ship was prepared to 80 percent, when the USSR collapsed.

After sharing the Black Sea Fleet, the unfinished ship passed to Ukraine. Of course, Ukraine did not have money to complete the building. The ship was gradually rusting, costly equipment was removed from it, while other details were stolen.

Ukraine tried to sell what remained from the ship, though it did not find any serious buyers. Finally, a buyer appeared. That was a Chinese businessman who decided to turn the ship into a kind of floating casino.

In its first and last trip to Chinese coast, Varyag should go this summer, though because of Turkey’s disagreement to let the ship pass through Bosporus, the trip was put off. Today, according to telegraph agencies, all contradictions are settled, and the ship went though Bosporus. 16 pilots were piloting the ship, while 250 people were guaranteeing its security from shore.

Why China needs the ship is unknown, though there is a rumour China has some troubles in its aircraft-carrier programme.

Lack of qualified staff and of experience in building ships of such a level does not allow to China to claim to world power standard. They probably, need the ship as a kind of visual aids. If China obtains what it plans, then in 5-10 years its ambitions will become a headache for Russia.

Russia does not have funds for its fleet’s modernization, all the more for building a new one. Something is being done, though it is not enough. Why Russia did not buy the unfinished aircraft-carrier to complete its building? And now we could only regret the ship with its proud name “Varyag” has been turned into a gambling-den.

Dmitry Litvinovich

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.