China’s first aircraft carrier begins sea trial

China’s first aircraft carrier begins sea trial

China's first aircraft carrier has begun its sea trials, underscoring concerns about the country's growing military strength and its increasingly assertive claims over disputed territory.

The mission by the refurbished former Soviet carrier marks a first step in readying the craft for full deployment. China says the ship is intended for research and training, pointing to longer-term plans to build up to three additional clones of the carrier in China's own shipyards.

The Vessel

The Director of the Centre for Pan-Pacific Studies at Jiaotong University in Shanghai, Wang Shaopu, said: "As a major economy, China on the one hand should take more responsibilities for the world and on the other hand, it has some new security interests that it needs to protect. Under the circumstances, China's naval power needs to grow accordingly."  

Information about the cruise was tightly restricted in line with the Chinese military's habitual secrecy; although the official Xinhua News Agency indicated that the step had been planned for some time. The 300-foot (91-meter) vessel departed through fog from the northern port of Dalian where it is being overhauled.

"After returning from the sea trial, the aircraft carrier will continue refit and test work," Xinhua said.

China has spent the better part of a decade refurbishing the carrier formerly known as the Varyag after it was towed from Ukraine in 1998, minus its engines, weaponry, and navigation systems.

Beijing's carrier program is seen as the natural outgrowth of the country's burgeoning military expansion, fed by two decades of near-continuous, double-digit percentage increases in the defense budget. China's announced military spending rose to $91.5 billion last year, the second highest in the world after the United States.

While the development of carriers is driven largely by bragging rights and national prestige, China's naval ambitions have been brought into focus with its claims to disputed territory surrounding Taiwan and in the South China Sea.

AP/Williams