[Jimmy Valentine]

The Varyag is a piece of junk. I'm convinced that the Chinese are fooling with it as a decoy away from their real intent.

The Chinese have never been great on the water, but kick butt on land.

Siberia has resources, space etc. etc.

Vladi Putin better put his shirt back on and figure out how to defend everything east of the Carpathians.

[Vermont Lt]

“They demand to know why!”

Because it might be easy to launch a bi plane from the tail end of a cruiser, it is a real bitch to land them on the same ship.

Duh.

[Zhang Fei]

I don't think it's pointless to make these statements at all. It's a way of signaling to the Chinese (and our regional allies) that we're watching what they're doing and that there will be a US response against any Chinese territorial encroachments. Whether this deters them is another question. But this is a diplomatic marker. No one wants to repeat April Glaspie's mistake of saying to Saddam that Iraq's territorial disputes with Kuwait were of no concern to the US, in the run-up to the Iraqi conquest and annexation of Kuwait.

This website encapsulates the Chinese mindset, which really doesn't differ all that much from the Japanese mindset before the onset of the Sino-Japanese War. The Chinese do want peace, but the peace of a victorious conquering army.

[ex-snook]

Fear why? Bush made them a permanent favorite trading partner so we could send them the money to build it. ‘If we pay them, they will build’.

[Vroomfondel]

SONOBUOY PING!

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[Jeff Head]

Well, since this carrier, next to the US carriers and the French carrier, once it becomes ioperationally, will be the strongest carrier afloat...and probablyu next to the UKs carriers which are now building, and since the Chinese are already building two more at the same time in Shanghai, I'd say we'd best look around and give them consideration.

Over the last ten years they have developed new, modern, effective destroyers (DDGs) which are a lot like our own AEGIS destroyers with an effective SAPAR, AEGIS-like guidance and battle management system for their VLS missiles, effectiove new frigates, FFGs with VLS, new SSNs and now this new carrier.

THE NEW CHINESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER

I have been tracking their progress for the lasty eight years...and yes, we'd best take note. They are on a track to challenege us seriously in the WESTPAC in the next 5-10 years now.

THE RISING SEA DRGAON IN ASIA

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

PING.

[LadyDoc]

they plan to use it to intimidate the Philippines and VietNam to give up the Spratlys islands so they can grab all that oil and natural gas.

[Jeff Head]

She returned to port today, August 14, ending her intitial sea trials.

Chinese Carrier Completes Initial Sea Trials

[SwinneySwitch]

If the US would stop buying Chinese goods, their economy would fall like a house of cards.

[AngryMan0]

China is building up its military and once it has sufficient force its going to start “rolling out” (all the other countries with a single army — think risk the board game — are easily going to be taken ala Germany in WW2). The only thing that will stop this is a chinese collapse which if you listen to Gordon Chang should have been happening for the past 10 years