China to build 93,000-ton atomic-powered aircraft carrier

China to build 93,000-ton atomic-powered aircraft carrier
Vessel to be on par with latest U.S. carrier, according to data

China has been pushing ahead with construction of a mega-sized nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to be completed in 2020, according to a Chinese Communist Party's dossier.


Decommissioned Russian antisubmarine carrier Kiev that China bought in 2000.

A source close to Chinese military affairs said on March 27 that China has been promoting the construction of a 93,000-ton atomic-powered carrier under a plan titled the "085 Project." The nation also has a plan to build a 48,000-ton non-nuclear-powered carrier under the so-called "089 Project," added the source.

[Excerpted from: The Hankyoreh, a progressive newspaper, decisively committed to journalistic freedom, democracy, peaceful coexistence and national reconciliation between South and North Korea.]

China sought US sub secrets to conquer Taiwan: US prosecutor
Thu Mar 29, 8:55 AM ET

LOS ANGELES (AFP) - Prosecutors in the trial of US engineer Chi Mak said Wednesday that secret US submarine technology information he had tried to smuggle to China was to help it take control of Taiwan.

Assistant US attorney Greg Staples said the sensitive data on a computer disk Mak tried to provide China through his brother included information on under-development Quiet Electric Drive technology to make submarines silent.

[Excerpted: AP on Yahoo]

The world sure seems like its going to be a very interesting place within 20 years.

[baggygreen]

very true - even more interesting if you get govts who want to be soft and let things slide!

[Kazuaki Shimazaki II]

Well, tell me when they actually start to lay down the carrier, and again when they launch it. China's military budget is not that large and its infrastructure not quite stabilized yet - lots of projects (like the DF-41 project) can get very late.

[baggygreen]

thats true too - At the rate they get things done, it'll probably be about 2040 and we wont even use carriers by then lol

[Letum]

I wonder what they will do with it once they have it.

Come to think of it, China has the worlds largest army doesn't it?
What do they do with that?!

[/complete ignorance of far eastern politics]

[Saukko]

As a subsim player, I wonder, how much renown?

[fatty]

Originally Posted by Letum

I wonder what they will do with it once they have it.

Come to think of it, China has the worlds largest army doesn't it?
What do they do with that?!

[/complete ignorance of far eastern politics]

笨英国人! :p

The PLA has historically been quite useful in propping up the Chinese Communist Party. I believe Most PLA members are also party members. Here is a small bit that explains it better than I can:

Originally Posted by John McCormick, Comparative Politics in Transition, 5th ed.

The PLA is not only an army, air force, and navy in the conventional sense, but it also recruits for the party, educates and informs people, and was used by Mao to act as an example to the people. Members of the PLA were encouraged to work on farms and in facotires, and the PLA even went so far as to abolish ranks in 1965 in order to stand as an example of egalitarianism. (The ranks were reestablished in the mid-1980s.

During the Cultural Revolution - when regular government effectively broke down and many government posts went unfilled - the PLA took over administrative duties, kept the Chinese economy functioning, and essentially held the country together. In any other country, it might have used the opportunity to stage a coup; instead, it helped neutralize the Red Guards and restore the party to power.

Nowadays the PLA is undergoing many modernizations. They have not really fought in any 'serious' engagements outside of a few skirmishes with India, Russia, etc., but lately are probably thinking a lot about Taiwan and south-east Asian energy assets.