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China refutes aircraft carrier claims
Speculations that China's first aircraft carrier will soon take to the oceans were renewed on Wednesday as the US attempted to shore up regional wariness toward China and fortify Washington's strategic foothold in Asia, analysts said.
Beijing's first carrier could begin sea trials as early as this summer, and its deployment would significantly alter the perceived balance of power in the region, US Navy Admiral Robert Willard told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, drawing upon feedback from US allies and partners in the Pacific, the AP reported.
However, Willard said its impact would be largely symbolic, given the inevitable long period of training, development and exercises the carrier would undergo before being fully operational.
The remarks came as photos of a vessel, Vayag, bought from Ukraine in 1998 by China and now allegedly under reconstruction in the northeastern port of Dalian, have been widely circulated on online military forums.
Li Jia, a spokeswoman for China's Ministry of National Defense, downplayed such speculations to the Global Times.
"We are consistent in regard to aircraft carriers. There is no further information on this issue," Li said on Wednesday, referring Global Times to previous statements made by the ministry.
Colonel Geng Yansheng, also with the ministry, said no relevant information was available on the subject, while unveiling China's military white paper late last month.
The Ministry of National Defense said in January 2010 that rumors about the building of two aircraft carriers by 2011 were groundless.
Yet when responding to a question put forward by his Japanese counterpart Yasukazu Hamada in Beijing in 2009, Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie said China needs to develop an aircraft carrier, as it is the only major power not to own one.
The US Pacific Command led by Willard has five aircraft carrier strike groups.
Li Jie, a senior captain at the Chinese Naval Research Institute, said foreign forces over-interpreted China's development on the aircraft carrier out of "ulterior" motives.
"Even if China does reconstruct the one bought from Ukraine, its technology would be way behind those belonging to countries like the US, both in terms of function and equipment," Li told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Through such speculation, the US wants to stir up tensions between China and its neighboring countries, then suppress China and ink more arms sales to the region, Li said.
"An aircraft carrier is a must for a big country to become a powerful one, and it's a threshold for a country to develop and protect its interests on the high seas," Li said, adding that the role of a carrier cannot be replaced by any existing military technologies.
Choi Choon-heum, a senior researcher with the Korean Institute for National Unification, told the Global Times that China needed an aircraft carrier to protect its long coastline.
Choi recognized that the launch of the ship would pose a political threat to the US, who would interpret the launch as a threat to its interests in Asia.
Song Xiaojun, a Beijing-based military expert, told the Global Times that the US' anticipation of China's first aircraft carrier may spark a new round of wariness about the "China threat" in the region and that Beijing should proceed with caution.
Li Daguang, a professor specializing in military strategies at the National Defense University, explained that if China had its first aircraft carrier, the vessel would only be a platform for training, not combat operations.
Beijing refutes carrier claims - GlobalTimes
Speculations that China's first aircraft carrier will soon take to the oceans were renewed on Wednesday as the US attempted to shore up regional wariness toward China and fortify Washington's strategic foothold in Asia, analysts said.
Beijing's first carrier could begin sea trials as early as this summer, and its deployment would significantly alter the perceived balance of power in the region, US Navy Admiral Robert Willard told the Senate Armed Services Committee on Tuesday, drawing upon feedback from US allies and partners in the Pacific, the AP reported.
However, Willard said its impact would be largely symbolic, given the inevitable long period of training, development and exercises the carrier would undergo before being fully operational.
The remarks came as photos of a vessel, Vayag, bought from Ukraine in 1998 by China and now allegedly under reconstruction in the northeastern port of Dalian, have been widely circulated on online military forums.
Li Jia, a spokeswoman for China's Ministry of National Defense, downplayed such speculations to the Global Times.
"We are consistent in regard to aircraft carriers. There is no further information on this issue," Li said on Wednesday, referring Global Times to previous statements made by the ministry.
Colonel Geng Yansheng, also with the ministry, said no relevant information was available on the subject, while unveiling China's military white paper late last month.
The Ministry of National Defense said in January 2010 that rumors about the building of two aircraft carriers by 2011 were groundless.
Yet when responding to a question put forward by his Japanese counterpart Yasukazu Hamada in Beijing in 2009, Chinese Defense Minister Liang Guanglie said China needs to develop an aircraft carrier, as it is the only major power not to own one.
The US Pacific Command led by Willard has five aircraft carrier strike groups.
Li Jie, a senior captain at the Chinese Naval Research Institute, said foreign forces over-interpreted China's development on the aircraft carrier out of "ulterior" motives.
"Even if China does reconstruct the one bought from Ukraine, its technology would be way behind those belonging to countries like the US, both in terms of function and equipment," Li told the Global Times on Wednesday.
Through such speculation, the US wants to stir up tensions between China and its neighboring countries, then suppress China and ink more arms sales to the region, Li said.
"An aircraft carrier is a must for a big country to become a powerful one, and it's a threshold for a country to develop and protect its interests on the high seas," Li said, adding that the role of a carrier cannot be replaced by any existing military technologies.
Choi Choon-heum, a senior researcher with the Korean Institute for National Unification, told the Global Times that China needed an aircraft carrier to protect its long coastline.
Choi recognized that the launch of the ship would pose a political threat to the US, who would interpret the launch as a threat to its interests in Asia.
Song Xiaojun, a Beijing-based military expert, told the Global Times that the US' anticipation of China's first aircraft carrier may spark a new round of wariness about the "China threat" in the region and that Beijing should proceed with caution.
Li Daguang, a professor specializing in military strategies at the National Defense University, explained that if China had its first aircraft carrier, the vessel would only be a platform for training, not combat operations.
Beijing refutes carrier claims - GlobalTimes
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