Posted on 03/05/2002 8:40:46 AM PST by rightwing2
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.
Maybe they are just interested in heating their harbours. ;-)
You also assume that with almost no naval tradition, that China would be able to build a fleet superior to that of the combined US, Japanese, Taiwanese and South Korean fleets? That would be quite a feat. Historically unprecedented, to say the least.
The Buchananite calls for no free trade (a.k.a the Supreme Corporate Welfare - No Foreign Competition & Fat Profits) are interesting, too. Somehow, letting American consumers buy cheaper goods, thereby leaving them with more money to save and invest in America's future, makes us a poorer country. Interesting. I wouldn't suppose you heard of a fellow named David Ricardo?
Oh, really?
I don't recall anything like that being proposed in the 1930s. However, Chinese history is nothing but a series of ascents and declines--and they're coming due for another decline. When China declines, it usually declines into warlordism and banditry.
And won't with nukes at their beck and call.
That's what will make the future of China so interesting! A civil war with nuclear weapons, YEE-HAW!
Further, we are looking at a cohesive IDEOLOGICALLY united heirarchy running multiple disinformation campaigns while racing in a military build-up of staggering proportions.
China is four nations united at gunpoint. Unfortunately for the "ideologically united hierarchy," if they were to engage in overseas adventures, the manpower pool for said adventures would be those same people who are currently holding "China" together at gunpoint. They can't be everywhere at once.
And you continue to misunderstand the inherent dynamic weakness for deterrence, not to mention war-winning, for that matter, of the continuing erosion of the US Fleet capability, while the PRC is on the way to becoming a first-rank Navy.
Anyone who talks about the US Fleet suffering from "erosion" of capability knows about as much about real navies and what they do as Hillary Clinton knows about heterosexuality.
China will be building several aircraft carriers at just about the point in time where the aircraft carrier really starts suffering from its limitations as a single platform. Kinda like building monster battleships in 1941.
My argument has nothing to do with trade and everything to do with how China is actually four different nations, united at gunpoint. Said unification would not survive any overseas adventures.
Thank you for this thought provoking tirade. And after you have reduced the American economy back to 1940's levels will you be happy then?
First, there is Agrarian China, where folks live as they have for years. They LOVE the central government, because they're a net drain on China's economy.
Then, there are the smokestack industries in Manchuria. They want policies that benefit them at the expense of everyone else. They'd vote for Buchanan's Chinese cousin if they could.
Third, there's the "Third Wave" China centered around Shanghai. The ambitious want to drag China into the 21st Century. The less ambitious simply want the other three Chinese nations to go fornicate themselves and let the Greater Shanghai area make LOTS and LOTS of money.
The fourth China ain't even really part of China--they are Tibetans, Muslims, and other subject peoples. They don't want the Chinese to go away mad--they just want them to go away.
No need to worry about carriers for that scenario; worry if they're building a LOT of amphibs...
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