China lands fighter jet on new carrier in show of force

China’s intentions are the same as they have been for the last three thousand years – to defend itself against foreign interference.

Any Chinese navy, like any Iranian navy, will look powerful, move swiftly, and sink quickly!

Unless China has mastered landing on an aircraft carrier in reverse; I’m pretty sure the jet in that picture is taking off from the carrier, not landing.

@ tiktin: Well said and I figure that is what most of the Middle East is doing, defending itself from the bullish United States of America. However, it’s not We the People doing it, it is the corrupt and selfish leaders of the U.S. who fool us to stay in office. America, take the wool off of your eyes!

“Show of Force”….seriously (lol). There are 22 aircraft carriers in the world. The U.S. has 11 of them. No other country has more than two. China has ONE..lol of which they ACTUAllY landed a plane on it for the first time. The average U.S. aircraft carrier has a crew of over 3000 with more than 60 planes on each of them. State of the art aircraft at that. Oh yeah! The Chinese build up is scary…lmao!

Incorrect headline. It’s not a new carrier but a second hand one, and landing a single aircraft, one which you might have pointed out could easily be mistaken for a US one(!), is a very different proposition from deploying a carrier fleet. Not to mention that in this day and age, carriers are sitting ducks. This is a paper tiger.

@tiktin: then why all the sabre-rattling in the South China Sea. It has nothing to do with self-defense and everything to do with the race for resources. A perfectly legitimate goal, if sought legitimately rather than by harassing its neigbors.

Wow they land the plane in reverse. They are now years ahead of the US. You other Asian countries better brush up on your Mandarin. I am sure all this is over peace right?

@xyz2055

You just made the case why we should cut Defense spending.

And it illustrates to me how big and bad the propaganda machine really is in the US.

It reminded me of my first trips abroad, and then you realize how much more stuff we have that’s not really necessary.

@Zaichik: I don’t quite agree with your comment as all these disputes actually started as China being harassed by its neighboring countries. The dispute with Philippine initiated when Philippine arrested Chinese fishmen and similarly, Japan challenged the status quo on Diaoyu(Senkatu)island by first naming it and then officially “purchased” it from its own self-claimed “private owner”. I wonder how should China react to protect its own interests under these situations without being considered as sabre-rattling or bullying its weaker neighbors? Perhaps the whole world need some time to be accustomed to a powerful China like it does to the “superpower” U.S.

Whats so great about a aircraft carrier? Any guided missile will destroy the ship. Patriot types on board wont help. Whats more, these ships are nuclear powered. If the missile hits the reactor, we have a Chernobyl repeat. And along with it goes lives of two thousand sailors. The sailors include nuclear engineers, technicians, aircraft engineers, pilots, navigators, soldiers, chefs, helpers, and many more. Aircraft carriers were useful during WW2 when the enemy was scarcely armed. Today the world has become smarter. Iran has threatened to sink both the American ships which are presently deployed in the Persian Gulf in the event of a war. And this is perfectly possible. America’s retaliation will lead to WW3.

Naval aviation was invented one hundred years ago. In San Francisco Bay, on January 18, 1911, a 24 year-old barnstormer pilot named Eugene B. Ely completed the world’s first successful landing on a ship. It’s going to take a lot more than a couple media events to boast that Chinese Naval aviation is a part of their military arsenal.

I realize it takes an executive editor to suggest analysis and a headline this stupid. But, it will be worth blogging about, today or tomorrow.

I mean, what the frack do you think you do with an aircraft carrier other than use it to transport, take-off and land airplanes?

Yes, the Chinese government converted one of the used carriers they bought into a hotel. The obvious intent of this one has been to train pilots and crew to use an aircraft carrier. Meanwhile, Uncle Sugar sends these critters and attendant warcraft around the world like roving bands of arrogant imperial mafioso proclaiming our need to be “respected” – on an annual basis.

I know Reuters isn’t run by stupid people; but, you needn’t be so obedient.

Dhirajkunar – I don’t think Iran or any other adversary would dare hit a nuclear powered ship be it American or anyone. Iran is fully aware what that would start, it would be suicidal. They can saber rattle all they want but they are not stupid to try and hit a ship without understanding the utter consequences they would suffer with a massive American retaliation.

Yes if a missile did strike the reactors of a carrier the fallout would be disastrous for them and their neighboring countries all would feel the heat of the fallout. I don’t think countries even allied with Iran would welcome such an idiotic act. Also, these carriers carry armed nuclear weapons in their missile systems and deliverable smart bombs deployed on aircraft. If they want a nuclear holocaust worse than what Japan experienced when that tsunami that hit their coast unleashed its devastation and the two bombs we dropped on them in WW2 they are more than welcome to it.

I would wager they would attempt to hit non-nuclear powered vessels but understand the navy is not dumb to keep any nuclear vessels in harms way if they sense war was imminent.

JTLavery……That was funny! :)

How these post’s went from China’s new ship to massively retaliating against Iran is revealing. One might think though, with the proven sucsess of missile Defense, The U.S Carriers might be well defended.

I believe i read recently the Chinese are building several of their own Carriers……Money is power in our world!, And the Chinese have lots of it….Plus the manpower to produce quickly.

congratulations,China’s navy!you will finally become a global navy to keep the world peace.

@xyz2055, the difference is that the US has to police
the world and China only needs to defend herself! As the
world troublemaker, the US must spend as much as she can.
No one will defeat America. America can do that job
nicely on her own (:- Do Americans really want to be
the world police?

@zebra69:
You are absolutely right on.
We’re still spending trillions in defense( including all the VA cost, PTSDs treatment, social cost and research etc, maybe more)

And our kids are not getting cuts into their arts, music as well as science equipment in their schools.

Time to cut defense.

@JLlavery, @Mils54:

If you watched Rick Steve’s Europe’s episodes on Iran, or read any of the biographies of Eisenhower on Iran, which have been published in the last 2 years, after the 50 year declassification limit on White House papers, you might not find it so funny to jab at Iran.

Unlike many believe, it was Eisenhower’s deceiving of the American people, not Jimmy Carter’s ineffectiveness in foreign affairs, that led to the sticky Iranian extreme right-wing, religious regime.

Ike took down a democratically elected Iranian leader, and put up the Shah as a puppet in response to Britain’s request to help keep the British oil companies in power to rip off up to about 90% of the oil money from oil drilled in Iran. And the people revolted. The result was an extreme religious right-wing government that was much more difficult to deal with than the one we practically single-handedly took down. The people then was fed up with the corruption that shielded, what to them, were the foreign old companies.

Truman looks very good now, as he rejected the same request by the British, just before Ike’s Presidential term.

If you have a conscience, read the biographies yourself, and probably, you won’t find your jokes so funny any more.

We all think of Ike as this great general, and this honest President, because towards the end of his Presidency, he chose to be “honest” about some spy planes he had sent to Russia, instead of saying something political to get the disarmament talks going with Russia. Even Andy Rooney, in his last 60 minutes’ tribute, talked about “Ike’s honesty”. He apparently never read the declassified material in a list of the biographies published in the last 2 years. The truth was just the opposite. Ike knew that the Russia was planning to reveal that he was a liar, so he came out with the truth about the spy plane first. Otherwise, he was going to lie to the American people, just like the way he did with a whole list of affairs, like the failed coup to topple Indonesia’s Government, that he actively and deliberate blamed on Taiwan. After that, there was a slew of horrible persecution of Chinese in Indonesia– all the shopkeepers had there money nationalized as scapegoats, even though the Indonesia knew it was the Ike. It was just that the Indonesians could not afford to reveal the truth of the coup by Ike, because we were too powerful militarily, economically, and controlled most international organizations.

Read the history for yourself. See beyond the common, political correct stance, and allow yourself to make sound, wise, independent judgment. The roots of much of the world’s problem are not as what I have always thought they were, until I took the time to read the official historical facts, rather than allow the conclusions and prevailing judgment be imposed on me.

The world will be a more peaceful place, if we all do that.

This is a typical step for a nation with an economic momentum that is envied by many. To become worried is absurd. They could defeat us at anytime just by dumping their US Treasury Holdings, bringing our (and others)economy to it’s knees. Why DON’T they? Simple… it’s been too profitable to do so. This is the danger of a debtor nation.

“The home-built J-15 fighter jet took off from and landed on the Liaoning, a reconditioned Soviet-era vessel from Ukraine which only came into service in September this year.”

So China still hasn’t built it’s own aircraft carrier yet?

“The home-built J-15 fighter jet took off from and landed on the Liaoning, a reconditioned Soviet-era vessel from Ukraine which only came into service in September this year.”

So China still hasn’t built it’s own aircraft carrier yet?

@Steve1112

Actually the aircraft is falling from the sky and the aircraft carrier is intercepting it before it hits the water…

@Janeallen

Revisionist biographies written 2 years ago are not the official historical facts. Somehow the authors of these books know what Ike was thinking, and that he was going to lie before he found out that the Soviets was going to expose his lies, so that is why he told the truth. And you take that as official historical fact? You are very, very, gullible.

so … we should cut the military? We will HAVE to just to keep PAYING for China’s military! (who do you think they are getting the $$$$ from to buy the pretty little aircraft carrier???)

@xyz2055,

Agreed. But the message, as part of the greater propaganda campaign, named “China Threat”, is intended for the Asian audience so that they will fall into our arms and buy our obsolete weapons.

China hase been expanding her borders for thousands of years. Her ambitions in the South China Seas seem to date from the handover of Hong Kong in 1997, part of which was sovereign British territory. China is seeking to establish hegemony in the region.
The development of a fleet is part of this strategy. It adds force to diplomacy. Capital ships would be surrounded by a fleet to defend them. This would include submarines and air-to-air defences, together with defences against missiles. The theatre-of-war would include space, due to the importance of satellites.
The U.S. has defence treaties with Japan, the Philippines and Taiwan. Let us hope that diplomacy is successful. The alternative, a slow but unavoidable march towards war, would be very unfortunate for all concerned.

@sw19

Make no mistake, Defense Treaty is not to be interpreted as an Agression Treaty. Japan has a strong faction of facist imperialists. Philipines is dirt poor. Vietnam is not better than Philipines and has its own ambitions. Therefore these three are our future burden. They will drag the US into war. Unless our long-term strategy is a total war against China.

Congratulations to China! Congratulations!

Now another country started to have carriers. This could make the world more balanced, and hopefully more fair. This trend seems healthy for all of us.

They do their work seriously.

@ Batman_is_mad

I respect what you say. But I disagree with your view that US will nuclear carpet bomb if Iran attacks the ship or blows up the reactor. Nuclear bombing of Iran wont happen. That wont solve America’s problems. It will be a world war. There is too much stake in Iran. China for one will carpet bomb most cities of the US. Russia too will join. India, a good friend of Iran will go against America. Our muslim population will force the government to act against the United States. America knows all of these and that is why there wont be ANY ATTACK ON IRAN, NOT EVEN NOW, NOT EVEN IN THE FUTURE. The time is over for America to think if they deploy this sitting duck in the Persian Gulf, countries like Iran are gonna shiver with fright and give up. Yes, during WW2, when most countries were unarmed, these ships made sense. Today China will shoot down all the satellites which guide these ships. World has become smarter.

The J-15 is an unlicensed Su33 copy that clearly violates sukhoi intellectual property. as much as I dislike the Russian government, they have a strong case here. Russia has refused to sell certain aircraft to China now simply because of the belief that China will again act like the thieves that they are, intellectual propertywise.
- The aircraft carrier was bought under false pretenses with promises that it would never be militarized or used as a military vessel. China lies again.

I’m no sinophobe, but the chinese are pretty guilty in this one.

China at work.

Also: well done China. You’ve reached the 1930s level of naval power. That was BEFORE the US started its cold war build up.

@dominicpaz

Sukhoi & Russia dont care, so why do you care?

Regarding to the Varyag deal, it was only under Us’ pressure so that the then Ukraine gov added the item that the buyer, a private entertainment company, should not use it for military purpose. That was an very normal deal. But the Us did its every sneaky manuvre to block the aircraft on its way to the companys headquarter. That directly caused the bankrupty of the company, and thats the stage when thr China gov stepped in, bought it as a distressed property, and used it for any purpose. It’s legal because:
1. Ukraine gov doesn’t care. It even never presented a slightest concern.
2. Even the Us doesnt have ts face thick-skinned enough to push Ukaine gov do anything on it. Remember, it’s the Us gov who breaked the rule first, pushed the buyer company to bankruptcy.

This is an perfect example for the Us for that familiar saying “manuvre a stone, but hit your own foot”.