As military balks, Chinese public pushes for aircraft carriers

[unhappycamper]

Mockups of jet fighters and a helicopter sit on the flight deck of the Kiev.


As military balks, Chinese public pushes for aircraft carriers


TIANJIN, China — On a windswept pier at the Binhai theme park, tourists board an aged Russian aircraft carrier, the Kiev, and imagine what it would be like if China had such a symbol of maritime might.

Along dimly lit passageways, they peer into compartments to see mannequins of Russian sailors loading rockets into firing tubes, manning radars and even entering a sauna.

On deck, simulated jet fighters rest on the rolling tarmac along a runway.

China remains the only major global power without aircraft carriers in its fleet. For years, military leaders have weighed the pride that such vessels would bring the nation with the costs and complexity of operating the giant ships, continually postponing a decision. But now public sentiment is running strongly in favor of launching a program to build aircraft carriers, and some military experts say construction may be inevitable.

"Actually it has almost been decided that the Chinese navy will build carriers," said Xu Guangyu, an analyst and the director of the government-backed China Arms Control and Disarmament Association.

China's military has grown at double-digit rates for nearly two decades and now wields supersonic missiles and nuclear submarines. When it comes to aircraft carriers, though, it's not so much military leaders voicing an operational need as an impatient public demanding construction, experts said.


Rest of article at: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/world/story/21181.html

[Warren Stupidity]

1. "public sentiment"?

China is a fascist totalitarian state. I call bullshit. The leadership does not care about 'public sentiment', that is a fig leaf used to explain why they are going to directly challenge US naval supremacy in asia.

[KeepItReal]

3. Game, Set, and Match to Warren Stupidity

spot on!

[Ganja Ninja]

2. I'm not sure Aircraft Carriers can be that effective against first rate

powers nowadays. They work well for us in wars against countries we have a technological advantage over. But if we were facing off against the combined forces of Europe those carriers wouldn't be anywhere near as effective and would probably not last long.