China's first aircraft carrier has begun its inaugural sea trial, the defence ministry said Wednesday, a move likely to stoke concerns about the nation's rapid military expansion. Video courtesy of AFP.
Troubled Waters: Why China's Navy Makes Asia Nervous -- Time
The last time the aircraft carrier once known as the Varyag generated this much concern, it was for fear it might sink. The ship was one of the Soviet Union's last naval commissions, but construction at the Black Sea shipyard of Mykolaiv was abandoned in 1992 after the U.S.S.R.'s breakup. The Varyag languished as an unfinished hulk until 1998, when a Chinese company, based in Macau and with ties to the Chinese navy, bought it from Ukraine, ostensibly to take the ship to the gambling enclave as a floating casino. Turkish officials worried that the 300-m vessel — a rusting shell without weaponry, engines or navigation equipment — would sink while crossing the Bosphorus Strait, causing an environmental headache and a hazard to navigation. So they delayed its passage for three years, only agreeing in 2001 to halt traffic on the Bosphorus to allow the symbol of Soviet decline to be tugged past the shoreside forts and luxury homes of Istanbul on its five-month journey to the Pacific.
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More News On China's Aircraft Carrier
China Flexes Naval Muscle -- Wall Street Journal
China's future aircraft carrier no source of tension -- Xinhuanet
China Begins Sea Trials of Its First Aircraft Carrier -- New York Times
China's First Aircraft Carrier Begins Sea Trial -- Voice of America
China launches first aircraft carrier -- The Telegraph
China launches first aircraft carrier on maiden sea trial -- Reuters
China test-drives first aircraft carrier -- Washington Post
China's Navy Sets Sail -- IBD Editorial
US to China: Why Do You Need an Aircraft Carrier? -- ABC News
My Comment: A good commentary on the impact of China's new aircraft carrier on it's Asian neighbors can be found here.
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