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War, War, War See other War, War, War Articles Title: Beijing admits it is building an aircraft carrier BEIJING--China has officially admitted for the first time that it has embarked on an aircraft carrier building program, part of a grand strategy to "build itself up as a maritime power." A report published by the State Oceanic Administration says the country's leaders decided last year to back plans to build China's first aircraft carrier. The Chinese government and military had kept the program under wraps until now. The annual national ocean development report says that asserting China's power at sea is "indispensible to accomplishing the great resurgence of the Chinese people." Chinese military sources said initial plans had called for launching a conventional powered carrier with a displacement of between 50,000 and 60,000 tons in 2015. But, with construction progressing quickly, the launch of the first Chinese-made aircraft carrier now appears to be set for 2014. Construction has already begun at six military-affiliated companies and research institutes in Shanghai and other locations. The plan calls for a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to be launched by around 2020. Meanwhile, the Varyag, a Soviet-era Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier bought from the Ukraine, is undergoing repairs in the northeastern port of Dalian and is expected to be pressed into service as a training vessel from 2012. The Chinese military is developing a fighter jet to be used on its new carrier and about 50 pilots have begun land-based training. Facilities to train the pilots in landing and taking off at sea are being constructed at Xingcheng, Liaoning province, and Xian, Shaanxi province, and a full-scale model of an aircraft carrier has been completed in Wuhan, Hubei province, to test radar systems. The report, written by a research institute affiliated to the State Oceanic Administration, sketches a strategy for expanding the reach of Chinese sea power and strengthening its ability to protect its maritime interests. As part of that strategy, the report says, the Chinese military "came out in 2009 with a vision and plan to construct aircraft carriers." It also maps out a longer-term drive to build China into a mid-level maritime power by about 2020, able to counter challenges and threats at sea. The report indicates that possessing aircraft carriers is seen not only as necessary to compete with the United States, but also as a way to heighten patriotic sentiment in China. Military sources said the Chinese leadership decided in April 2009 at an expanded meeting of the Communist Party's Politburo to give the go-ahead to the aircraft carrier building program. But there appears to have been a tug-of-war within the Chinese regime about publicly announcing the program. Initial plans to announce the program were put off because of concerns that it would fan concerns in neighboring nations about the Chinese military threat. However, the military has been insistent that the construction plan should be announced. The report by the State Oceanic Administration, an agency of China's land ministry with close ties to the Chinese Navy, may have been a convenient vehicle for that lobby. All the aircraft carriers will likely be based at Sanya, a South China Sea port on the southern tip of Hainan Island.
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#8. To: Jethro Tull (#0)
How many foot soldiers can fit on an aircraft carrier? Did someone say, "Nuke China"?
We been down that road before and the capability remains.
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