US Navy Officers Tour Chinese Aircraft Carrier

Strasser · Oct 22, 2015

http://www.voanews.com/content/us-navy-officers-tour-chinese-aircraft-carrier/3016667.html

BEIJING—

China this week hosted a visit to its sole aircraft carrier by senior U.S. Navy officers amid tensions over reported plans by Washington to challenge Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea.

The delegation of 27 commanders and captains boarded the Liaoning on Monday and discussed “exercise management, personnel training, medical protection and strategies in carrier development,'' the Chinese navy said on its official microblog.

On Tuesday morning, the delegation visited the navy’s submarine academy, where further dialogues were held, the navy said.

The visits appear to reflect the growing momentum of military exchanges between the sides, despite occasional flare-ups in tensions and Washington's complaints over what it calls the Chinese military's lack of transparency.

The visits follow reports that the U.S. Navy plans to sail a warship inside the 21-kilometer territorial limit of one of China's newly constructed islands formed by piling sand atop existing reefs and atolls. That would demonstrate Washington's refusal to recognize China's claims in the South China Sea, especially artificial islands that the U.S. insists cannot be classified as sovereign territory.

Low-key visits

Both China and the United States. appeared to want to keep this week's visits low-key, with China's official Global Times newspaper not reporting on them until Wednesday. The U.S. Navy's official website didn’t mention them.
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When the diplomacy, hand shaking, glowing tesimonials over 'mutual understanding', and the ass kissing steps up, it means things are getting a little hotter.

waltky · Dec 27, 2016

China wants carrier off US coast...

China's aircraft carrier prowling Pacific, sending a message
Wednesday 28th December, 2016 - China must expand carrier fleet operations, says state-run media; China's only operational carrier went into open Pacific for first time

China's lone aircraft carrier is prowling the Pacific as the country seeks to assert its military might and build up its naval warfare capabilities. The Liaoning carrier's J-15 fighter jets practiced air confrontations and air refueling in the Yellow Sea late last week before the ship and its flotilla of escorting frigates and destroyers headed into the open Pacific beyond Taiwan and Okinawa. On Monday it headed to the South China Sea -- the site of regional tensions caused by China building fortifications on disputed islands. It's a move that hasn't gone unnoticed by China's Asian neighbors.
Taiwan sounded a note of alarm, with its defense minister emphasizing the need for vigilance. "The threat of our enemy is growing day by day. We should always be maintaining our combat alertness," said Taiwan Defense Minister Feng Shih-Kuan.

Japan's Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said it's the first time it could confirm the Liaoning, which China bought from Ukraine in 1998, then rebuilt and commissioned in 2012 as a training vessel, had gone into the open Pacific. "We are taking notice of this event, which indicates China is expanding its ability to engage in maritime warfare," Japanese Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said. And it looks like that's exactly the point China's trying to make clear.

A warning for Eastern Pacific

China's state-run Global Times media agency published an editorial on Christmas Day, timed to coincide with the aircraft carrier Liaoning's maneuvers. The piece called on China to build up its fleet of aircraft carriers, make them combat ready, sail them to Eastern Pacific and look to set up naval supply bases in South America. The Global Times also said the drill is a sign the Liaoning's combat capability has been enhanced and its areas of operation expanded, and could soon include the Eastern Pacific, including off the US West Coast. "When China's aircraft carrier fleet appears in offshore areas of the US one day, it will trigger intense thinking about maritime rules. "If the fleet is able to enter areas where the US has core interests, the situation when the US unilaterally imposes pressure on China will change," the Global Times said.

Chinese J-15 fighter jets wait on the deck of the Liaoning aircraft carrier

The editorial called on China to speed up construction of homemade aircraft carriers "so as to activate their combat." China is believed to have one new carrier near completion and another about to start construction, said Carl Schuster, a professor at Hawaii Pacific University and former director of operations at the US Pacific Command's Joint Intelligence Center. But China's ability to pose a long-range threat with aircraft carriers is a long way off, he said.

A difficult buildup for China
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US Navy Officers Tour Chinese Aircraft Carrier

Strasser Banned

waltky Well-Known Member

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US Navy Officers Tour Chinese Aircraft Carrier

Strasser Banned

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