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China was able to reverse-engineer much of the former Soviet aircraft carriers and improve its own related technologies -- despite previously having no experience with them. But if the armor of the Varyag is based on former Soviet standards, the sinking of the Moskva will only make Chinese leaders fret over its vulnerability to incoming advanced missiles. Since its commissioning in 2012, the Liaoning has been considered one of the Chinese navy's key assets. It often sails near Taiwan, including through the Taiwan Strait. But following the war in Ukraine, if Chinese President Xi Jinping, chairman of the Central Military...

SHANGHAI (Kyodo) Two Japanese nationals in their 50s received heart transplants between 2001 and 2004 at a Shanghai hospital whose organs mainly come from death-row inmates, sources at a Taiwanese company that arranged the procedures said Thursday. Japan was seemingly unaware of the cases, as a survey released March 9 by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry said there were no cases of Japanese receiving heart transplants in Asia outside of Japan. Ethical and medical concerns have often been raised regarding organ transplants in China over issues that include the use of organs of prisoners on death row and uncertain...

CNN is under fire for allegedly publishing "Chinese propaganda" in a report that cites a media outlet controlled by the Chinese government. On Monday, CNN.com ran an article about China People's Liberation Army (PLA) supposedly having a foothold in the spread of the coronavirus in a branch of its military, running the headline, "China's PLA Navy is controlling coronavirus and aircraft carrier's deployment proves it, report says." "A Chinese naval flotilla headed into the Pacific over the weekend, evidence that the People's Liberation Army Navy has done a much better job controlling coronavirus than the US Navy, according to a...

Taiwan has reportedly scrambled its warships to monitor a Chinese aircraft carrier strike group, as the two US aircraft carriers in the region have been docked by the coronavirus. China's first ever aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, led the group through the Miyako Strait near Japan, the South China Morning Post has reported. The current location and destination of the carrier group is unknown, but Taiwan has sent its own vessels to monitor them.

After thousands of tests and training missions, China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, is combat ready. A Global Times reporter recently visited the carrier, to find out how its crew members are selected and what roles they perform. After four years, the crew of the Liaoning went from knowing virtually nothing about the vessel to achieving an astonishing series of firsts. Fighter planes sit on the deck of the Liaoning aircraft carrier. Photo: Zhang Kai Fighter planes sit on the deck of the Liaoning aircraft carrier. Photo: Zhang Kai For an outsider, seeing the Liaoning, with a displacement of more...

The arched bow, known as a ski jump deck, is a feature of China's second aircraft carrier based on a former Soviet design. TOKYO -- China's first domestically built aircraft carrier will likely be set afloat by the end of the year, according to multiple Chinese military sources. The country already has an aircraft carrier named the Liaoning, but that vessel is a refurbished former Soviet carrier. Beijing purchased the ship, then known as the Varyag, from Ukraine more than a decade ago. The new vessel is believed to share its basic design with the Liaoning. The two ships are...

BEIJING, Dec 31 (Reuters) - After months of speculation, China confirmed on Thursday it is building a second aircraft carrier to go with an existing one bought second-hand, 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. Foreign military analysts and Chinese media have for months published satellite images, photographs and news stories purporting to show the second carrier's development. "China has a long coast line and a vast maritime area under our...

New video has surfaced showing operations aboard China’s only aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, complete with the head of the Chinese Navy’s making a visit and J-15 fighters landing and launching. More importantly, it shows how much Chinese aircraft carrier operations have evolved. This includes footage of one of the jets with an air-to-air load-out launching from mid-ship launch position. The video was supposedly shot during recent training in the Bohai Sea. According to a report by Channel News Asia, Chinese media has recently ran stories underscoring the fact that the country’s carrier has transitioned from in development to an operational...

BEIJING -- China this week hosted a visit to its sole aircraft carrier by senior U.S. Navy officers amid tensions over reported plans by Washington to challenge Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea. The delegation of 27 commanders and captains boarded the Liaoning on Monday and held discussions on "exercise management, personnel training, medical protection and strategies in carrier development," the Chinese navy said on its official microblog. That was followed Tuesday morning by a visit to the navy's submarine academy, where further dialogues were held, the navy said. The visits appear to reflect the growing momentum of...

It was a mission like no other. In the aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse, one businessman armed with cash and a casino cover story scooped the world to buy the unfinished hulk of a Ukrainian aircraft carrier that would become the centrepiece of the PLA Navy. Speaking to the media for the first time, the Hong Kong-based businessman at the heart of the undertaking reveals in a two-part series the details of the little-known, behind-the-scenes odyssey to realise China's long-held dream of owning such a warship. Xu Zengping disclosed that the militarily sensitive original engines of the carrier were...

More types of aircraft are still needed for Beijing to establish its first carrier air wing on China's first aircraft carrier the Liaoning, according to Wendell Minnick, in an article written on Sept. 7 in Washington-based Defense News. 24 J-15 Flying Shark fighters, six Z-18F anti-submarine warfare helicopters, four Z-18J airborne early warning helicopters and two Z-9C rescue helicopters will together form the first carrier air wing of the People's Liberation Army Navy according to an article in Chinese-language newspaper Shanghai Morning Post published Aug. 28, citing an interview with Cao Dongwei, a senior colonel and researcher at the PLA...

A dinosaur creche has been found entombed in the volcanic debris that engulfed it on a hillside 123 million years ago. Six young Psittacosaurus, all less than three years old, died side by side. It is the earliest known dinosaur nursery... Paul Barrett, of the Natural History Museum in London, one of the researchers, said that the fossilised juveniles appeared to have formed a creche but it was impossible to be sure if they were part of a larger herd or if they grouped together for protection. "This is the first time we've found a group of these dinosaurs together....

As you can see in the Google Maps image above, the airfield (located about 300 miles from Qingdao, the homeport of China's first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning) is freshly built and the northern end of the runway features a fake carrier flight deck that appears to be used to practice carrier landings (there are clear skid marks on the landing area). The southern end of the runway features two "ski-jump" ramps that are likely used by pilots to rehearse taking off from Liaoning's bow-mounted ramp. (Notice how only one of these ramps is complete in the imagery above while the...

China's J-15 fighter superior to Russian Su-33 (People's Daily Online) On Nov. 25, 2012, China's carrier-borne J-15 fighter jet has successfully undergone a series of sailing and technological tests on the Liaoning, China's first aircraft carrier, marking a great success of the carrier-borne fighter jet independently developed by China and a major breakthrough in the development of aircraft carrier technology. The J-15 is equipped with two high-power engines and a brand-new system of high lift device, takeoff and landing device and arrester hook. Its wing can be folded up to both maintain the excellent combat capability and meet the special...

The Next Chapter of China's Defense China's military ambitions are now aided by the landing of its first fighter jet on an aircraft carrier. The WSJ's Jeremy Page discusses what this means for the country's defense strategy.

China conducts flight landing on aircraft carrier LIAONING AIRCRAFT CARRIER, Nov. 25 (Xinhua) -- China has successfully conducted flight landing on its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, naval sources said. A new J-15 fighter jet was used as part of the landing exercise. After its delivery to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) Navy on Sept. 25, the aircraft carrier has undergone a series of sailing and technological tests, including the flight of the carrier-borne J-15. Capabilities of the carrier platform and the J-15 have been tested, meeting all requirements and achieving good compatibility, the PLA Navy said. Since the carrier...

Far East: Wars have started over less weighty issues than the sovereignty of islands in the East China Sea called Senkaku in Japan and Diaoyu in China. They are barely rocks above water, but they sit atop valuable resources and are rapidly becoming a flash point as a rising power confronts one whose sun has set. These islands have become involved in a three-way tug of war between China, Taiwan and Japan with each sending fishing boats, even armed vessels, to the area. Private boats from Japan recently journeyed to the Senkakus to plant the Japanese flag one more time....

China detects deadly nerve gas at border with NKorea: report 1 hr 51 mins ago TOKYO (AFP) – China has detected deadly nerve gas at its border with North Korea and suspects an accidental release inside the secretive state, a Japanese news report said Friday. The Chinese military is strengthening its surveillance activities after detecting the highly virulent sarin gas in November last year and in February in Liaoning province, the Asahi Shimbun newspaper reported, citing anonymous sources from the Chinese military.

Inner Mongolia Yields New Discoveries More than 80 leading archeological experts are participating in an international conference in Chifeng, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, to exchange the latest information on Hongshan, a prehistoric relics site. Relics excavated at the Hongshan ("Red Mountain") site originated around 5000 BC to 6500 BC. Now a part of Chifeng City, the site was discovered in 1935. Some of the relics found at Hongshan have led archeologists to conclude that the heads of Chinese dragons may have been inspired by boars in addition to horses and cattle. Primitive people who struggled to survive by fishing and...