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	От	Mike
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	Дата	26.01.2003 15:42:14
	Рубрики	Современность; Флот;

China argues over building aircraft carriers

переливание из пустого в порожнее на тему - зачем китайцам Варяг и что они с ним делают.

HARVEY B STOCKWIN

TIMES NEWS NETWORK[ SATURDAY, JANUARY 25, 2003 02:29:04 PM ]

HONG KONG: Two influential Chinese publications have recently argued that China should not build aircraft carriers at this time because of the adverse effects such a move would have on regional security. So far, the Chinese do not appear to have utilized the hull of the unused Soviet aircraft carrier "Varyag" for any military or civilian purpose.

"Varyag" is the 50-60,000-ton hulk of what was once intended to be the second Kuznetsov-class aircraft carrier for the Soviet Navy. It was never completed due to Russia's lack of funds.

In 1998 the Ukraine government sold "Varyag" to a Hong Kong-registered Macau gaming firm, ostensibly to become a casino. This possibility was consistently rejected by the Macau government. Former People's Liberation Army officers on the board of the gaming company suggested the real reason for the purchase.

"Varyag" graduated from questionable purchase into an absorbing mystery as China spent vast sums towing it all the way from Nikolayev on the Black Sea to Dalian in northeast China.

Since it had never been fitted with either an engine or a rudder, Turkey refused, for nearly a year, to give the "Varyag" right of passage through the Bosphorus until pressured to do so -- after the Chinese government had intervened and offered numerous inducements.

The Varyag nearly sank during a storm in the Aegean Sea, was refused passage through the Suez Canal, and only reached China after being towed all the way around the Cape of Good Hope. Once the 627-day tow ended the mystery was: what would China do with rusting hull?

A recent article on the English-language web-site of the "People's Daily" in Beijing entitled "Why China Chooses Not To Build Aircraft Carrier" provides a partial answer.

A small picture was coupled with a report that the apparently unutilized carrier "lies quietly on a deserted ground in northeast China's Dalian port. Though an empty rusty hull from the days of the Soviet Union, the carrier still poses its attraction and curiosity to people...Needless to say, chiefs heading the Dalian shipyard keep their mouth shut on how to deal with this old Soviet carrier."

Even more interesting was the argument advanced by the article that China should not develop its own aircraft carrier force at this time. This echoed a similar viewpoint previously expressed in Hong Kong's leading pro-China paper the "Wen Wei Bao", known for its close contacts with the Chinese Communist Party.

The "People's Daily" article highlighted the views of an unnamed navy expert that "some Western countries, seeing China's rapid development, have dished out the 'China menace' theory, in the hope of holding back the nation's developing trend.

Some neighbouring countries are on their guard against our defence forces, while a stable neighbouring environment is of critical importance to China as a country focussing on developing its economy. In this sense, not to build aircraft carrier is a correct decision for China at the current stage."

The reference to "neighbouring countries on their guard" could only refer to India and Vietnam.

The article carefully noted the enormous cost of operating carriers and their accompanying task forces, and that India was among the ten nations currently operating 26 carriers worldwide. It said that "discussion on whether China should have its own carrier has been running hot among ordinary people".

While these "People's Daily" and "Wen Wei Bao" articles could be meant to mislead, they could also be a tell-tale sign of a controversy within the PLA Navy and also the Chinese government.

Conceivably there those who argue that, despite the enormous difficulties, the Dalian shipyard should attempt the near-impossible task of making at least a helicopter carrier out of Varyag's rusting empty hull. There may also be those who advocate that China's own ship-building industry is capable of producing an indigenous aircraft carrier.

Another possibility is that the PLA Navy will try to get some return on the "Varyag" investment by making it into some kind of tourist attraction. Currently China has converted the old Soviet carriers "Minsk" and "Kiev" into theme parks in Shenzhen and Tianjin respectively.

It is also possible that Chinese officials have reluctantly come to the conclusion that "Varyag" is useless and that they undertook that enormous tow from Nikolayev to Dalian all for nothing.