Chinese Navy Trying To Catch Up With Indian Navy By Commissioning Its First Air Craft Carrier
China till date had one rust bucket Aircraft Carrier LIAONING, which was incapable of any naval combat whatsoever. However for political reasons China always referred to it as an active Aircraft Carrier. So now by commissioning its first indigenous aircraft carrier, now China too can boast of one active Carrier to match India’s INS VIKRAMADITYA.
However to catch up it has to put in lots of hard work, as India has been operating aircraft carrier since 1961.
President till Xi Jingping has officially commissioned China’s aircraft carrier into service at a naval port in Hainan province, state media report. The move comes as relations between Beijing and the US remain tense.
Named after Shandong province, the vessel is China’s first domestically-built aircraft carrier and was delivered to the navy on Tuesday.
The new addition marks a significant boost to China’s naval firepower, joining the US, Russia, India, UK and Italy to operate combat capable aircraft carrier. Just like Indian second carrier soon to join the Indian Navy, a second Chinese carrier is currently under construction.
Shandong also boasts a higher aircraft capacity than the first Chinese rust bucket aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, which went into service in 2012. Construction on Shandong began in November 2013 and it was reportedly expected to be commissioned in April 2019.
The new carrier has undergone several sea trials ahead of commissioning, including exercises last month in the Taiwan Straits, a highly sensitive area in the region.
Diplomatic tensions between China and the US show no signs of dying down. The US recently expelled two Chinese diplomats it accused of spying on a US military base in Norfolk, Virginia. The US State Department has also imposed restrictions on Chinese diplomats generally, obliging them to request permission before meeting with local officials.
Beijing accused the US of “distorting the facts” in its accusations against the two diplomats, and responded to the State Department’s new restrictions by introducing its own for US diplomats in China.
There has been some thawing in the ongoing trade war, with the announcement of a preliminary agreement between the two nations to resolve the feud which saw tariffs on billions of dollars worth of goods imposed by both sides.
China recently suspended a new tariff hike due to hit US goods this weekend in the wake of the ‘Phase One’ deal, but said tariffs already imposed will continue to apply until further negotiations.
However tension between Chia and India have eased quite a lot. So now every one will be watching if SHANDONG make any port visit in the Indian Ocean Region. In case it does then INS VIKRANT will surely be visiting many friendly ports in the Indo Pacific Region.
