[American in Israel]

No, Peoples Liberation Army I suspect is an army of the subjugated people, who are going to liberate the other peoples land for the ruling people.

This aircraft carrier is to protect the invasion fleet. All those container ships are great for mounting medium range missile launchers and also to carry troops. I guess the question is at this point, as China manufactures most of the hi tech stuff we use, is just what bananna tree does the 500 lb gorilla want?

[Tallguy]

This aircraft carrier is to protect the invasion fleet.

If the near-term objective is to unify with Taiwan, land-based aircraft are the cheaper way to go and would do the job nicely. An aircraft carrier would be a huge investment to risk losing when it only marginally contributes to the invasion operations.

Now, if we're talking about dominating the South China Sea -- that's a different ballgame.