Is China Moving Toward a Carrier?

Is China Moving Toward a Carrier?

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After more than a decade of speculation about China obtaining an aircraft carrier, there appears to be some movement in that direction -- although not related to procurement of a ship. Rather, there are reports that 50 Chinese naval officers have begun a pilot training program at the Dalian Naval Academy to provide a cadre of carrier-based aviators.

The Chinese Navy already has a large, shore-based air force, which includes more than 400 aircraft, mostly fighter/attack types, but also a score of Chinese-produced Tu-16 Badger strike aircraft as well as training and transport aircraft. There are some 26,000 personnel assigned to the naval air arm, according to the web site "Periscope."

The training program for the 50 students is reported by some sources to cover a four-year period. The training will largely be conducted at the Faculty of Automation Engineering at the Dalian school, which in one of several Chinese naval education institutions. The students will also learn seamanship alongside their colleagues who will become surface ship and submarine specialists.

The program will include flight training. The major questions are (1) will their flight training include carrier operations and (2) how and when will China acquire a carrier. With respect to the first, while simulated carrier-deck training can be conducted ashore, at some stage the student pilots must go aboard ship. This could be done through agreements to train aboard a foreign carrier -- possibly Russian or Indian. The U.S. Navy periodically permits carrier ops from its carriers for the carrier-less Argentine naval air arm.

The second issue -- of Chinese carrier procurement -- is far more perplexing. Press reports continue to declare that the Chinese Navy is rehabilitating the never-finish Soviet carrier Varyag, moored at Darlian since 2002, to constructing a nuclear-propelled "super carrier" of almost 100,000 tons, i.e., the size of the U.S. Nimitz (CVN 68)-class carriers. Both of those options are highly unlikely. Other than a new coat of paint, the Varyag has had no work done on her since arriving at Dalian; she lacks electronic gear, radars, and other vital equipment, and her engines are inoperable. The situation is exacerbated by the fact that many of the equipment producers for the Soviet carrier program are no longer making the appropriate equipment or are no longer in business. The cost of making the Varyag operational would be similar to that of constructing a new ship. (The Varyag design dates to the 1970s.)

Similarly, the cost and effort to design and construct a 100,000-ton ship as China's first carrier could instead produce two ships of perhaps half that size, a much more efficient approach to the problem. And, of course, having two ships available would provide more at-sea time for the carriers.

New construction ships could certainly be built in China, which has produced very large merchant ships, although destroyers are the largest warships that have been built in the country. A class of LPD amphibious ships of about 17,000 tons full load is now under construction. Another option would be to have a carrier built in the Ukraine, where the Black Sea Shipyard No. 444 constructed all previous Soviet aircraft carriers. Those ships were the largest warships to be constructed outside of the United States since the end of World War II. The Ukrainian government would certainly welcome a contract from China to construct a major warship in the yard.

Of significance, in the late 1980s the Chinese Navy had another naval training program in which nine pilots were graduated from a three-year training course. They were then assigned to shipboard duties and, reportedly, all have become destroyer commanding officers. Some observers believe that these men could become the commanding officers of a future Chinese carrier force. The program was interesting because Chinese naval aviators -- like their Soviet counterparts -- are not "line" officers in the Western sense and normally do not serve as ship's company, and cannot succeed to command of a ship.

Another complication is the issue of carrier-based aircraft. In the past, Chinese Navy pilots have reportedly undertaken short-run takeoffs and landings using the indigenous J-8 fighter on a simulated carrier deck, but the aircraft's poor aerodynamic performance makes it impossible for real shipboard operations. The indigenous, third-generation J-10 and J-11 fighters are potential candidate, but both would require substantial structural modifications before they could take off and land on a carrier deck.

The Russian press has reported the Chinese purchase of up to 50 Sukhoi Su-33 Flanker-D fighter-attack aircraft. These fighters, manufactured by the Komsomolsk-on-Amur Production Association, were to be delivered to China 2007-2008. But none are known to have entered Chinese service -- assuming that the reports of their sale are correct. The Su-33 (formerly Su-27K series) are flown aboard the Russian Navy's only aircraft carrier, the Admiral Kuznetsov. (The Chinese Navy has experience with Sukhoi aircraft, currently having 24 land-based Su-30MKK2 fighter-bombers since 2004. Thirteen countries fly variants of the Su-27 Flanker series, including the Chinese Air Force.)

There is no question: The Chinese Navy is seeking to develop a carrier capability; but there are many, many questions about how that goal will be achieved.

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China hints at aircraft carrier project

By Mure Dickie and Martin Dickson in Beijing

Published: November 16 2008 23:32 | Last updated: November 16 2008 23:32

The world should not be surprised if China builds an aircraft carrier but Beijing would use such a vessel only for offshore defence, a senior official of the Chinese Ministry of National Defence has told the Financial Times.
The comments from Major General Qian Lihua, director of the ministry’s Foreign Affairs Office, come amid heated speculation within China and abroad that the increasingly potent naval arm of the People’s Liberation Army has decided to develop and deploy its first aircraft carrier. Traditionally, a carrier would accompany and protect a battle group of smaller ships.

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The Pentagon said this year that China was actively engaged in aircraft carrier research and would be able to start building one by the end of this decade, while Jane’s Defence Weekly reported last month that the PLA was training 50 students to become naval pilots capable of operating fixed-wing aircraft from such a ship.

Maj Gen Qian declined to comment directly on whether China had decided to build a carrier, but in the defence ministry’s most forthright statement yet on the issue he made clear that China had every right to do so.

“The navy of any great power . . . has the dream to have one or more aircraft carriers,” he said in the interview, which aides said was the first arranged by the defence ministry on its own premises. “The question is not whether you have an aircraft carrier, but what you do with your aircraft carrier.”

Though he did not mention the US by name, Maj Gen Qian pointedly contrasted the function of a possible Chinese vessel with the way the US Navy uses its 11 carriers. “Navies of great powers with more than 10 aircraft carrier battle groups with strategic military objectives have a different purpose from countries with only one or two carriers used for offshore defence,” he said. “Even if one day we have an aircraft carrier, unlike another country, we will not use it to pursue global deployment or global reach.”

That pledge is unlikely to reassure those in the region concerned about the PLA navy’s emergence as a blue-water force. An effective Chinese carrier could have serious implications for any conflict involving Taiwan by strengthening the mainland’s ability to counter the island’s air force and control its sea-lanes.

Beijing claims sovereignty over Taiwan and threatens military action against the island if it tries to further formalise its current de facto independence. Taiwanese separatism was the “biggest threat” China currently faced, Maj Gen Qian said.

Admiral Timothy Keating, head of US Pacific Command, said in Beijing last year that Chinese development of a carrier should not be the cause of any unnecessary tension, and that the US would even be willing to lend a helping hand.

Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2008

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China to consider building aircraft carrier

6 hours ago

BEIJING (AP) — China will "seriously consider" building its first aircraft carrier, the Ministry of National Defense said Tuesday in another sign of Beijing's expanding military ambitions.

An aircraft carrier is "a symbol of a country's overall national strength as well as the competitiveness of the country's naval force," said ministry spokesman Senior Col. Huang Xueping. He said China must ensure its maritime security and sovereignty but gave no timetable for launching such a vessel.

China's navy usually stays close to its shores, though the government said Tuesday that it will send three ships to the Indian Ocean to deter pirate attacks on Chinese vessels.

An aircraft carrier would allow China's navy to fight farther out at sea by providing air cover in places that land-based planes cannot reach. Military analysts see a Chinese aircraft carrier mainly as a deterrent to U.S. intervention in a possible conflict over Taiwan, the self-ruled island that Beijing claims as part of its territory.

"The Chinese government will take into overall account all of the relevant factors and seriously consider the relevant issue," Huang said at a news conference in response to question about whether the time was right for China to build an aircraft carrier.

China's neighbors have been closely watching its possible ambitions to extend the reach of its military as defense spending has grown by double-digit rates in recent years.

Beijing's reported military budget this year was 417.8 billion yuan ($58.76 billion), up 17.6 percent from 2007.

An aircraft carrier also could give Beijing an edge in any conflict over the South China Sea, where it has conflicting claims with neighboring governments over large areas.

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• DECEMBER 23, 2008, 9:01 A.M. ET

China Mulls Acquiring Aircraft Carrier

By SHAI OSTER

BEIJING – Chinese officials said the country's decision to send warships to the Gulf of Aden to curb piracy – China's first such deployment in modern history – doesn't represent a shift in defense policy. But the military's top spokesman said the navy is seriously considering expanding its reach by acquiring an aircraft carrier.

While downplaying the strategic importance of China's move to send two destroyers and supply ship to Middle Eastern waters, however, the navy, which has been investing heavily in new ships and aircraft, said that it now has the capability to conduct complex operations far from its coastal waters.

"We are sending our naval force as part of international cooperation, according to a specific situation," Capt. Ma Luping, director of the navy bureau of China's general staff, told reporters at a rare defense ministry news conference Tuesday. "It is not true that China will always send the navy whenever there is the loss of Chinese personnel or Chinese property."

Speaking at the same press conference, defense ministry spokesman Col. Huang Xueping said China is "seriously considering" adding an aircraft carrier to its fleet. "The air craft carrier is a symbol of a country's overall national strength, as well as the competitiveness of the country's naval force," he said.

"China has vast oceans and it is the sovereign responsibility of China's armed forces to insure the country's maritime security and uphold the sovereignty of its costal waters as well as its maritime rights and interests," Col. Huang said, in one of the most direct public statements on the thinking behind China's naval policy.

China has stepped up spending on the country's navy and the rest of its armed forces in an effort to modernize and strengthen them. Much of the defense push has been driven by China's increasingly global commercial interests. China's economy depends on trade and imported oil and raw materials.

China says its ships in the Gulf of Aden will operate under United Nations rules of engagement, including a U.N. policy on when to engage pirates. The ships' mission also includes protecting deliveries of humanitarian aid to Somalia. China will cooperate with other navies and commercial ships operating in the area, Mr. Ma said.

Underscoring the novelty of such a mission for China, the navy says it is still negotiating over where its ships will be able to dock for re-supply.
China's navy doesn't patrol the Straits of Malacca – between peninsular Malaysia and the Indonesian island of Sumatra – through which a large portion of its oil passes and where piracy has been an issue in the past. Mr. Ma said piracy in Malacca is essentially under control while it has been quickly growing in the Gulf of Aden -- along a critical international shipping route -- with seven attacks on Chinese ships so far this year.

Since August, 15 countries have dispatched warships and planes to participate in antipiracy patrols in the Gulf and Indian Ocean waters of Somalia. But international forces have been stretched too thin to effectively curb the increasingly daring and sophisticated pirates.

Mr. Ma's comments on the possible acquisition of a carrier indicate renewed interest in an idea whose popularity has waxed and waned within Chinese defense circles for decades. In 1985, China bought a decommissioned carrier from Australia. After Chinese technicians studied the ship it was scrapped, but a replica of the flight deck was built for use in pilot training.

China has since acquired three former Soviet carriers. Two have been turned into floating military theme parks. The Pentagon says that the third -- which was unfinished when it was purchased -- has undergone work in China, but that it remains unclear what the Chinese navy intends to do with the vessel.

Carrier operations are extremely complex. Building the hull of the actual aircraft carrier itself is among the simplest steps. Learning to integrate air and surface operations, training air wings and developing the sophisticated radar and command-and-communications systems required for modern naval aviation could take many years. U.S. government and independent analysts say it could be 2015 or 2020 before China could be ready to deploy an operational carrier.

—Gordon Fairclough contributed to this article.Write to Shai Oster at shai.oster@wsj.com

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123002912464329775.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

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China considers building aircraft carrier

http://www.zeenews.com/Img/2008/12/2...-FLAG_NEWS.jpg Beijing, Dec 23: China on Tuesday said it was "seriously considering" building its first aircraft carrier, in a sign that indicates Beijing is proposing to expand its Navy to give it a blue water capability.

An aircraft carrier is "a reflection of a nation's comprehensive power", the country's National Defence spokesman Col Huang Xueping said asserting that such weapons platform were needed to meet the demands of a country's Navy.

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Chinese government would seriously consider "relevant issues" with "factors in every aspects" on building its first ever aircraft carrier, Xueping was quoted as saying by state-run Xinhua news agency.

Though he did not give a time frame for building the carrier or whether the carrier would be conventional or nuclear powered, the Chinese plans come in the wake of the country having recently built advanced nuclear submarines.

The Chinese Navy is almost shore based and deployed in defensive mode, but recently the Communist nation has announced dispatching a Naval flotilla to Indian ocean to deter pirate attacks on Chinese vessels in the Gulf of Aden.

An aircraft carrier would allow Chinese Navy to cover wide expanses of oceans which presently are out of reach of its shore based Air Force.

In 1985, China purchased an Australian carrier HMAS Melbourne. Although the hull was scrapped, Chinese technicians studied the ship and built a replica of its flight deck for pilot training.

Beijing purchased two former Soviet carriers the Minsk in 1998 and the Kiev in 2000. Neither carrier was made operational; instead, they were used as floating military theme parks. Nevertheless, both provided design information to China's Navy engineers.

But in 1998 China purchased the ex-Varyag, a Kuznetsov-class Soviet carrier that was only 70 percent complete at the time of the Soviet Union's collapse.

Chinese engineers carried out extensive refurbishment of the unfinished carrier and even expressed interest in deploying Russia's Su-33 fighter on it.

According to experts citing the Communist Party's dossier said, China has also been pushing ahead with construction of a mega-sized nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to be completed in 2020.

"China has a long coastline and the sacred duty of China's armed forces is to safeguard the country's marine safety and sovereignty over coastal areas and territorial seas," the spokesman said.

The spokesman was giving details of the deployment of three Chinese Naval warships to deter pirates attack off Somalia. The ships would head for the Somali region on Friday.

"The deployment of the Chinese navy off the Somali coast was inline with UN resolutions," said Huang, adding it would "play a positive role in safeguarding peace and security in that area."

The warships on the mission are armed with special forces, helicopters and plans to share information with other countries working in the area, he added.

Ukraine to help train China's navy pilots

By Andrei Chang
Column: Military Might

Published: December 05, 2008Hong Kong, China — China has been sending military personnel to the Ukraine to learn how the country trains its aircraft carrier pilots, in preparation for the aircraft carrier battle group it eventually plans to build.

According to a source in the Ukrainian military industry, China first sent a large naval delegation, headed by the deputy chief of the PLA Navy, to visit the Ukrainian Navy Aviation Force training centers in the southern port cities of Odessa and Sevastopol in October, 2006.

The Chinese visited the Research Test and Flying Training Center at Nitka on the Crimean Peninsula, and the two sides discussed the possibility of Ukraine helping to train China’s navy aviation force and aircraft carrier pilots, the source said. Since then, Chinese engineers, pilots and naval technical experts have made frequent visits to Nitka.

The focus of much of China’s current military cooperation with Russia and Ukraine is on producing large aircraft and an aircraft carrier. Ukraine has provided China with a prototype of its T-10K shipborne fighter. By dissecting the T-10K – an earlier variant of the Su-33 fighter – China hopes to acquire the capability to independently develop its own shipborne fighters.

The single T-10K that China purchased from Ukraine was originally based at the Nitka center, which is equipped with a range of simulators to train pilots in jump take-offs, arresting landings and contingency responses. The training modules simulate the release of the arresting hook on take-off and its use on landing at a speed of 250 kilometers (155 miles) per hour.

The Nikta center previously trained a generation of Soviet pilots on the Su-33 and MiG-29K fighters. Now the 297th Fighter Regiment of the Russian Navy Aviation Force is undergoing training there.

As this author reported earlier, China has imported four sets of aircraft carrier landing assistance equipment and arresting hooks. The Chinese are in the process of building their own aircraft carrier training base, which is why they have been so keenly interested in Nitka’s simulators, training software, management procedures and technologies.

The training of aircraft carrier fighter pilots is a crucial step in putting together an aircraft carrier fleet. The training program is extremely harsh. According to the Ukrainian source, the most basic training for short-istance take-offs, landings and ski-jumps would take at least six months.

Ukraine was once the main training center for the Soviet Union’s aircraft carrier fighter pilots. It now intends to train navy pilots not only for China, but also for India and other countries that aspire to possess aircraft carriers, a source from Nitka says.

The Indian Navy is in the process of purchasing an aircraft carrier from Russia, as well as MiG-29K and MiG-29UBK fighters, the first batch of which is expected to be delivered to India by the end of the year – already a year later than scheduled. The pilots for those fighters will most likely be trained at Nitka.

China’s dealings with Ukraine reconfirm that the PLA Navy is moving forward on its aircraft carrier project. The Chinese carrier is apparently based on a Russian design; otherwise China would not be interested in Ukraine’s simulators. This means China’s aircraft carrier will very likely adopt the Russian methods of ski-jump take-off and landing.

China has also taken practical steps to build an aircraft carrier training base. The first step is to train shipborne fighter pilots at this base, followed by basic short distance take-off and landing training on the disabled Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag, which China purchased in 1998.

Sources from the Ukrainian military industry have confirmed on several occasions that the Varyag is unlikely to be restored to an operational fighter aircraft carrier, and will most likely only be used as a training platform.

Although the ship was purchased by a Hong Kong company ostensibly to be converted into a casino, Ukrainian sources say they were aware of China’s intentions from the beginning to use it for military purposes. The aircraft carrier, repainted with the colors of the PLA Navy, is now in the Chinese port city of Dalian.

http://www.upiasia.com/Security/2008...y_pilots/4214/

December 24, 2008
China Signals Further Interest in Aircraft Carrier

By EDWARD WONG

BEIJING — In the clearest indication yet that China could soon begin building its first aircraft carrier, a Defense Ministry spokesman said Tuesday that the country was seriously considering “relevant issues” in making its decision about whether to move ahead with the project, according to Xinhua, the state news agency.

The spokesman, Huang Xueping, said at a news conference in Beijing that aircraft carriers were “a reflection of a nation’s comprehensive power,” indicating that Chinese government officials saw value in adding a carrier to the country’s fleet. Mr. Huang said that China would use any aircraft carrier built in the future to safeguard its shores and defend “sovereignty over coastal areas and territorial seas,” Xinhua reported.

If China does decide to build the carrier, it will no doubt increase tensions with the United States, Taiwan and Japan, among other governments. China has been expanding its navy at a fast pace. The government has built at least 60 warships since 2000, and its fleet of 860 vessels includes about 60 submarines.

Last month, a senior Chinese military official hinted in an interview with The Financial Times that China would like to build an aircraft carrier. The official, Maj. Gen. Quan Lihua, said having a carrier was the dream of any great military power and suggested that the United States had nothing to fear if China did build a carrier.

The United States has 11 aircraft carriers, but only a handful of other nations — including Britain, France, Italy and Russia — have carriers and of those, none have more than a few.

The Ministry of National Defense had called the news conference on Tuesday to give details about the deployment of Chinese naval ships off the coast of Somalia, where an increase in piracy has made the shipping lanes the most dangerous in the world. Three Chinese ships are scheduled to head to the area on Friday.

The buildup of the Chinese military could change the balance of power across the Taiwan Strait. The Communist Party views Taiwan as a rebel province that must be reunited with the mainland, by force if necessary. But the United States government has said it may come to Taiwan’s defense in the event of hostilities with China.

In October, the Pentagon announced the sale of $6 billion of advanced weapons to Taiwan, a move that prompted criticism from China. The United States regularly sells arms to Taiwan, and China has long denounced the sales.

China Ups Ante With New Flattops

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In a move likely to stoke concerns in Tokyo, Washington and throughout Asia, China plans to greatly expand the reach and firepower of its navy by building at least two nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

Analysts believe China is expanding its naval power as part of a push toward strategic dominance over the western Pacific, including the waters that surround Japan.

Military sources said the first nuclear-powered flattops would be constructed in 2020 or later. China will begin construction of two conventional aircraft carriers this year.

According to sources, a meeting was held in Beijing on Dec. 30 among military officials.

A high-ranking military officer said the navy would begin construction of the two conventional aircraft carriers this year. Production of parts for the electricity control system has already begun in China and plans call for completing the two conventional carriers by around 2015.

A system for operating those carriers will be established by 2020, according to sources. Those two carriers would allow Beijing to extend its defensive reach beyond a so-called 1st extended defensive line linking Okinawa, Taiwan and the Philippines.

The two nuclear-power carriers being considered would be about 60,000 tons in displacement. Chinese officials have already obtained blueprints from Russia for the Ulyanovsk nuclear-powered aircraft carrier, which Russia no longer intends to build.

Chinese officials will likely use the blueprint as a reference point for their own development of a nuclear-powered carrier.

Analysts said China eventually wants to secure maritime control over the western Pacific that would lie within a so-called 2nd extended defensive line stretching from Japan to Guam and Indonesia.

The ultimate goal for China would be serving as a counter force to the U.S. Navy for the entire Pacific and Indian oceans.

A Chinese military source said: "The two conventional aircraft carriers we will begin constructing from this year will only be the opening gambit. While constructing and operating nuclear-powered aircraft carriers will require huge amounts of money, it will not be a large barrier considering our present pace of economic development, so there is the possibility of building even more in the future."

The white paper on national defense released by China on Jan. 20 for the first time clearly stated a policy of "improving strategic capabilities in distant waters." However, no mention was made of constructing aircraft carriers.

The Chinese navy has set up a special task force for construction of aircraft carriers titled, "the 048 office."

Construction has already begun on a wharf along Yalong Bay in the Sanya district of Hainan island. The wharf would provide base functions for aircraft carriers as well as include underground storage for ammunition.

Currently, only the United States and France have nuclear-powered aircraft carriers.

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China must build aircraft carrier 'soon' military says

China must build an aircraft carrier "soon" if it wants to be taken seriously as a global superpower, a Chinese military official has said.

By Peter Foster in Beijing

Last Updated: 4:19PM GMT 06 Mar 2009
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The Chinese navy has been lobbying for permission to build an aircraft carrier since the 1980 Photo: AFP

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 territory and forms no threat to any other country," he said.

Defence analysts say that acquisition of aircraft carrier, which would allow China to project power into the South China Sea, could be seen as a first step towards a long-term goal of challenging US pre-eminence on the high seas.

More immediately, however, the decision to build a carrier could threaten to expose a renewed rift with neighbouring Japan, whose long-strained relations with China have eased in recent years to enable top-level visits.

Under Japan's "peace" constitution, aircraft carriers are considered an "offensive weapon" and a decision by China to build a carrier would, some analysts believe, increase pressure within Japan to reconsider its non-offensive military posture.

* Japan and China are expected to agree to exchange information and cooperate in operations against pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia, the first time the navies of the rival Asian superpowers will have worked in tandem.

Beijing has already dispatched warships to the Indian Ocean and two of Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force destroyers are expected to sail for the region before the end of the month.

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		China confirms plans to build aircraft carrier
		15:25 | 23/ 03/ 2009 http://img.rian.ru/i/b_print.gif

BEIJING, March 23 (RIA Novosti) - China's defense minister has reaffirmed the country's plans to build its own aircraft carrier, the Sina news agency reported on Monday.

It quoted Liang Guanglie as saying that "among the big world powers only China does not have an aircraft carrier, so it cannot be without an aircraft carrier forever."

China's Ministry of National Defense spokesman said in December last year that aircraft carriers were "a reflection of a nation's comprehensive power" and were needed to meet the demands of a country's navy.

Experts have suggested construction could be officially announced in April, when the Chinese Navy marks its 60th anniversary.

According to the Wall Street Journal, China's first aircraft carrier will enter service by 2020.

Roughead Says Chinese Carrier Would Be Concern

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A future Chinese aircraft carrier may worry neighboring navies because Beijing has not specified what role the warship would play in the region, the U.S. chief of Naval Operations said Tuesday.

China, meanwhile, said a more powerful navy would not pose a threat as it mulls adding its first aircraft carrier to an increasingly sophisticated fleet.

The comments by Adm. Gary Roughead came amid growing signs that China plans to build a carrier as the country puts on a major display of naval weaponry this week in the northern port of Qingdao. The show was part of celebrations for the Chinese navy's 60th anniversary.

Long a goal of Chinese military planners, a carrier would bring much desired prestige to China's navy and could embolden it in asserting Chinese territorial claims, particularly in the South China Sea, analysts say. A carrier would also better allow Beijing to defend sea lanes crucial for the safe passage of trade and natural resources.

"If it is not clear what the intent is of the use of an aircraft carrier, I would say that it may cause concern with some of the regional navies and nations," Roughead told reporters in Qingdao, where he held talks with his Chinese counterpart, Adm. Wu Shengli.

Wu did not comment on a possible Chinese carrier.

In earlier comments to The Associated Press, defense analyst John Pike of GlobalSecurity.org said an aircraft carrier could bring China into conflict at sea with other regional military powers, including the U.S., Japan, South Korea and India.

"The main barrier [to operating a carrier] is deciding what role such ships would play in China's maritime strategy," Pike said.

Vice Adm. Ding Yiping, the Chinese navy's deputy commander, reiterated China's contention that the People's Liberation Army does not pose a threat to other nations.

"The PLA Navy will continue to make contributions to maintain world, regional and maritime peace," Ding was quoted as saying by the official Xinhua News Agency.

A total of 21 foreign ships are attending the Qingdao naval display, the first of its kind for China.

Thursday's international fleet review is to feature vessels from China and 14 foreign nations, including — for the first time — Chinese nuclear submarines, according to Ding. The types of vessels were not specified.

The People's Liberation Army, controlled by the Communist Party, has traditionally kept its best weaponry tightly under wraps, but recent years have seen a growing openness as it seeks to take its place among the ranks of modern, professional militaries.

China's 225,000-member navy operates more submarines than any other Asian nation, with up to 10 nuclear-powered vessels and as many as 60 diesel-electric subs.

The country's nuclear-powered Jin- and Shang-class submarines are considered just a notch below cutting-edge U.S. and Russian craft. Its diesel-electric Yuan class also boasts an indigenously developed air-independent propulsion system that allows it to remain submerged for weeks.

In comments to foreign commanders gathered Tuesday, Wu said world navies need to work together to confront non-conventional security threats — a reference to the multinational anti-piracy mission off the Somali coast.

He encouraged all navies to make maritime peace their "unshakable mission."

China's deployed its anti-piracy patrol in December to Somalia in a rare joint operation with navies from other countries. It was the first time the communist state dispatched ships abroad on a combat mission.

Wu reiterated China's insistence that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea guide the resolution of all maritime disputes. China says the convention gives it the right to restrict the collection of military intelligence within its 200-mile exclusive economic zones, and has dispatched boats to harass U.S. Naval vessels within that area.

"We must abide by the principles and the regulations of the United Nations Charter when handling maritime affairs and carrying out military operations on the oceans," Wu said.

The U.S., however, insists on the right of free passage in international waters, and says the convention specifically gives warships and naval auxiliary vessels immunity from being stopped, searched or boarded, while allowing military operations within the economic zones.

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China May Build Up To Six Aircraft Carriers

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At the Chinese Navy's coming out party this week in the northern port of Qingdao, the buzz is all about aircraft carriers. Everyone wants to know if the People's Liberation Army will soon confirm a decision on building carriers.

China's debate on aircraft carriers is not new. For some years now there has been an open debate within the strategic community on the benefits and costs of acquiring carriers. The debate has in fact been about the kind of naval power that Beijing should become.

For the nationalists, building aircraft carriers is all about underlining China's rise in the international system. Pointing to history, they argue that all great powers build strong navies. And nothing demonstrates the maritime power of a nation than an aircraft carrier.

The enthusiasts of sea-power in China insist that without aircraft carriers, China will be unable to secure its growing interests far from the national shores and in defending against threats to its massive sea-borne trade. They highlight the fact that China is the only major power in the world today without a carrier capability.

The more prudent among the Chinese strategists caution against building aircraft carriers. They argue that blind pursuit of maritime ambitions might put Beijing on a premature collision course with the world's dominant naval power, the United States.

Those advocating that China should bide its time propose that Beijing must concentrate instead on defensive naval capabilities that will deny ocean spaces near its teritory to the United States.

The indication in the last couple of years has been that the nationalists might be winning the argument. When China announced its decision last December to dispatch a flotilla to the Gulf of Aden, the first Chinese naval mission away from its shores, it dropped a hint that major decisions may have already been made on the carriers.

At that time the PLA top guns declared that "China has the right and capacity to develop aircraft carriers. It should not come as a surprise if one day China decides to do so."

That day might not be too far off. Chinese and international media have been speculating that China is building two aircraft carriers with plans to commission the first in 2015.

More recent reports suggest that Chinese leadership has taken a political decision to build not just two, but four to six aircraft carriers. For many aircraft carriers are a mere political symbol and a costly one at that.

You might agree with that proposition when a country has just one carrier. When a rising power plans to build six of them, we must recognise the arrival of a great new maritime power.

By the time PLA's naval party ends at Qingdao this week, there will be no doubt about China's maritime intentions. It is all set to project military power very far from its shores in the not too distant future.

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