China first aircraft carrier program is a first step to project naval power

By China Watcher

Being the second world’s largest economy, it is appropriate for China’s to possess its own aircraft carrier. In fact, China should use this self developed refurbished technologies to produce at least 5 more aircraft carriers, to reflect its status as an emerging superpower.

Smaller nations like the Philippines and Vietnam, of course, with the US backing, have recently provoked China by erecting building structures on the disputed isles and awarding oil drilling contracts within the zone of contention. This is outright challenging China’s sovereignty over the clusters of isolated islands and atolls which are reported to be rich in natural resources particularly oil.

China must also not forget that Japan and India are highly unpredictable in its foreign policy who are deemed US “satellites” in this part of Asia.

It is the right of every nation to own weapons for self defense and we observed that superior and highly technological weapons are widely being use as a leverage to negotiate for better terms in any sharing of resources that comes about in an country to country agreement.

The launch of the carrier is a great breakthrough and fills the gap of China’s navy power and boosts the ability in combined military operations. But China is still a long way from being a great naval power. Much still remains to be done.

China recognized that the refurbishment and ship reconstruction technology would be acquired in the process in taking the former Ukraine’s vessel to the seas. China should understand that the outdated carrier would be no match for the ships of other nations in times of war. But the Western internet participants have laughed off China’s efforts, which I personally feel will revitalize China’s effort to work even harder, as it will put them on their laurels until China can produce a nuclear powered one. This will not be a difficult task considering China had already built another more fearsome military vehicle - the nuclear submarine.

China must have already realized that it has to continually develop homegrown technologies and not dependent on any nations especially those from the West who will dictate terms not to your country’s favor. I am proud that China has proved to the West that with self determination and the combined hardworking abilities of the Chinese people there is no such impossible tasks, although I have to admit it will take a longer time. The EU and US sanctions on transferring high technologies military wares to China since 1989 have proven to be useless in keeping a great nation like China from acquiring home grown technologies. Who knows in years to come, we may see some new emerging technologies coming from China of which the West do not possess. Then we will see who has the last laugh.

China development of carriers for use is different from those of the US. China's aircraft carrier will not be used for attacks, unlike US ships. The carriers will be used for self-defense. It is important to note that the US have 11 nuclear-powered, whereas the former Varyag is gas-powered, a significant difference. US fighter planes have being developed to fly off the carrier with catapult assistance and the US carriers also far have considerable more advanced weapons technology and other systems. The technologies used on the former Varyag are still in an exploratory stage.

There is no doubt that China will compete with the US for domination and influence. But this task is still underway.

Making China a powerful nation is the dream of generations of all Chinese people, including people of Chinese origins throughout the world.

Deep within my heart, I always feel that there must be someone other than the people of Caucasian origins to one day lead a section of the world with very different cultural backgrounds from the Western world, which to this very day have shown its own fair share of weaknesses.

Let us hope China will continue to develop nuclear powered carriers in a decade.