Posted on 03/06/2009 2:21:39 PM PST by bruinbirdman
China must build an aircraft carrier "soon" if it wants to be taken seriously as a global superpower
Speaking on the fringes of the National People's Congress, China's rubber stamp parliament, the official added that China now had the technology to build an indigenous carrier and should use it.
"Building aircraft carriers is a symbol of an important nation. It is very necessary," said Admiral Hu Yanlin in an article published in the government-sanctioned China Daily newspaper bearing the headline "Build aircraft carriers soon".
"China has the capability to build aircraft carriers and should do so," he added in remarks that will fuel speculation that, after two decades of research, China is ready commission its first carrier.
The comments come two days after China announced a 14.9 per cent increase in defence spending for 2009, a rise that will have seen total Chinese military spending increase by more than 50 per cent since 2006.
The Chinese navy has been lobbying for permission to build an aircraft carrier since the 1980s, but analysts say it has been over-ruled by the country's Central Military Commission anxious that China's rise should not appear to upset regional security balances.
However remarks last December by a spokesman for China's National Defence Ministry that aircraft carriers were "a reflection of a nation's comprehensive power" and were needed to meet the demands of a modern navy were seen as an indication that China would build a carrier soon.
The Chinese government is highly sensitive to claims that its increased military spending will have a potentially destabilizing effect in the Asia-Pacific region.
Earlier this week Li Zhaoxing, the official spokesman at the National People's Congress, bristled at suggestions that China's increased military spending was grounds for concern.
"China's limited military force is mainly for safeguarding our sovereignty and
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
This must mean that they have managed to steal the designs for one of ours.
In other news... The Obama Administration has announced massive cutbacks in military readiness, including decommissioning all our aircraft carriers.
Well, we certainly don't want someone to take us seriously as a global superpower, do we?
The difference between ‘building’ an aircraft carrier and ‘operating’ one is as profound as the difference between the ‘floating’ on the surface of the ocean and ‘resting’ on the bottom of one.
They either reverse engineered the Kiev enough to know how to duplicate it and announcing building one during the celebration next month, or they are putting the Varyag to sea for the celebration and calling it their own.
Steal? Didn't Mrs. Clinton just go to Red China?
yitbos
The last time an Asian power built a large Naval Air Craft Carrier fleet it didn’t work out so well.
Just wait a few months, you Chicom bastards, Obozo will give you one of ours for free.
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The great director, John Ford, worked for OSS during WW II. He ran a film unit that took amazing shots of actual combat. His film "The Battle of Midway" is a classic, and well worth watching. He had camera crews on the US carriers during the battle, and just before it started, they happened to film most of the flight crews for Torpedo 8, the squadron that tragically lost all but one of its men during the battle, but contributed greatly to the US victory. It was originally produced only for the families of the deceased.
Here's a link to the film. It's only 8 minutes long. For whatever reason, in this version the soundtrack has been disabled, thought the picture clarity in excellent. Note that in the closeup of two aircrews, two men are identified as "NOT MISSING" though in fact they were indeed lost. I wonder how/why this happened. Perhaps someone has some information.
The soundtrack is haunting, and here's a link to the same film, though much poorer quality, with the soundtrack intact.
Just something to ponder, and reflect, as we once again read about the threat once again rising in the Far East.
Could you please ping the list to this post, with a heads-up? Thanks
I think that “Not Missing” indicates that their body was recovered. They are no longer listed as “Missing in Action”.
Ah, thanks...
China feeling frisky and possibly ready to actually try to project some power somewhere. What’s the status on those diesel subs to Tawain, completely fallen apart?
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