US Commander Calls Chinese Interest in Aircraft Carriers 'Understandable'

[Ryan Ruck]

I've said it before and I'll say it again, "With people like this in charge, we are screwed!"

US Commander Calls Chinese Interest in Aircraft Carriers 'Understandable'

The commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific says China's interest in developing an aircraft carrier fleet is 'understandable,' and that the United States would be willing to help. Admiral Timothy Keating made the comment during a wide-ranging news conference in Beijing Saturday morning. VOA's Al Pessin reports.

Admiral Keating and Admiral Wu chat before lunch, 11 May 2007 Admiral Keating says he believes Chinese leaders are "intrigued" by the idea of having aircraft carriers. But he says they need to understand the impact such a powerful, mobile weapon system can have. ()

"An aircraft carrier from a country pulls into port, and it is an unmistakable demonstration of will and resolve," he said. "And we had a very good conversation about that. I do not have any better idea as to China's intentions to develop, or not, a carrier program, but we had a very pleasant and candid exchange about the larger issues attendant to a carrier program."

At a lunch Friday with China's navy chief, Vice Admiral Wu Shengli, Admiral Keating stressed the difficulty and complexity of developing, building and operating an aircraft carrier. But at his news conference Saturday Keating said the United States would be willing to help if that is what China decides to do.

"It is not an area where we would want any tension to arise unnecessarily," he added. "And we would, if they choose to develop [an aircraft carrier program] help them to the degree that they seek and the degree that we're capable, in developing their programs."

Admiral Keating also told reporters he believes he made progress during his talks with Chinese military and civilian leaders Friday toward a better understanding of each country's strategic plans. He said he wants to increase the quality and level of challenge in U.S.-China military exercises, and expand exchanges among lower-ranking troops.

He also repeated comments he made to VOA on Friday, criticizing China's test of an anti-satellite missile in January - a view he also shared with the most senior official he met here, the vice-chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission. During that meeting, the two senior officers also discussed the need to avoid any misunderstanding or miscalculation that could lead to conflict in the Taiwan Straits.

At the news conference, Admiral Keating was also asked about Taiwan's reduction in its defense spending, as a percentage of its economy. He said he is not as concerned with percentages as he is with capabilities, and he believes the past nearly 60 years of stability across the Taiwan Straits is evidence that the island is spending enough.

"To me, the manifest evidence is pretty clear. Do those of use in the military ever think we have enough? Well, we'll take more if we can get it, but the Taiwan military capabilities are significant," he noted. "We emphasize that they remain defensive in nature. Our message is clear to the Taiwanese. And it is my understanding and my position that their defensive capabilities are adequate to task."

Later, a U.S. official traveling with the Admiral told VOA the United States would like Taiwan's legislature to approve some military purchases that have been pending for years. But the official also said there is disagreement over exactly what Taiwan should buy to enhance its defenses.

Admiral Keating, who became the U.S. Pacific commander in March, will continue his five-day visit to China with a trip to Nanjing on Sunday to visit the headquarters of the military district directly across the straits from Taiwan. He said he hopes to visit more Chinese military installations in future trips, including units that handle the country's missile force.

[Ryan Ruck]

China Intent On Aircraft Carrier Goal

The new commander of U.S. military forces in the Pacific and Asia says he found Chinese military leaders intensely interested in acquiring aircraft carriers during a recent visit to that country.

Adm. Timothy J. Keating added in an interview that he had warned the Chinese about the huge challenges involved in building and manning an aircraft carrier. "I suggested let's not be naive about the complexity of those ships, and they are not cheap," he said.

The admiral, a naval aviator who has made 1,200 carrier landings, said all of the Chinese leaders with whom he spoke during a five-day stay this month indicated their inclination to pursue the development of aircraft carriers.

"No [Chinese] said 'We're not going to do this,' " he said at his Pacific Command headquarters overlooking Pearl Harbor.

Chinese ambitions to acquire aircraft carriers were described last week in a Pentagon report titled, "Military Power of the People's Republic of China 2007."

A defense official briefing reporters on the report in Washington said Beijing seemed to be motivated by a desire to defend sea lanes used to transport oil for the nation's fast-growing economy.

Chinese state media rejected the Pentagon report yesterday as misleading and insulting, and said China had to pursue military modernization to avoid falling further behind the United States.

Adm. Keating declined to speculate on when China might start building a carrier but noted that it takes the U.S. Navy -- with the most extensive experience in the world -- more than a decade to design, build, equip with aircraft, and train both air and ship crews.

"This would be a profoundly difficult venture if the Chinese choose to undertake it," he said.

The U.S. Navy had nearly 800 planes crash in training accidents in 1954 during the transition from propeller driven aircraft to jet aircraft. Even as late as 1999, the Navy lost 22 planes flown by the world's most experienced aviators.

Internal discussion and external speculation over China's acquisition of an aircraft carrier has been churning for at least 25 years, but now seems to have picked up momentum. Adm. Keating said he sensed that, just below the surface, the Chinese saw aircraft carriers as potent symbols of great power status, a clear Chinese aspiration.

An early Chinese advocate of aircraft carriers was Adm. Liu Huaqing from the time he became chief of the Chinese navy in 1982 until he retired as a vice chairman of the Central Military Commission in 1997.

"To modernize our national defense and build a perfect weaponry and equipment system," the admiral once wrote, "we cannot but consider the development of aircraft carriers."

So far, the Chinese navy has concentrated on buying submarines from the Russians or building them at home. That policy, however, will most likely not last much longer, say Andrew Erickson and Andrew Wilson, faculty members at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, R.I.

"While submarines seem to be ascendant, the Chinese are still actively engaged with the carrier question and are reframing the terms of the debate," they wrote last fall. They suggested that China could include carriers in their next five-year plan, which begins in 2011.

There appear to be five reasons China may buy or build a carrier:

• International prestige: Adm. Keating, Mr. Erickson and Mr. Wilson noted that Chinese often say "a nation cannot become a great power without having an aircraft carrier."
• Power projection: China has proclaimed that the waters and islands of the South China Sea are Chinese territory. Southeast Asians dispute those claims but a carrier would back China's contention.
• Defending lifelines: Increasing amounts of oil for China's industry pass through the Straits of Malacca between the Indian Ocean and the South China Sea. A carrier could help defend them.
• Regional rivalry: India and Japan, which Chinese leaders see as political competitors, are well ahead of China in sea power. A carrier would help close that gap.
• Relief operations: China was humiliated after the 2004 tsunami in the Indian Ocean drew swift responses from the United States, Japan, and other nations with air and naval assets, while China could do little to help.

China would not need a carrier to attack Taiwan, which many see as its top military priority. Such an attack could be managed with land-based aircraft that can be refueled in the air and a large missile force facing the island across the Taiwan Strait.