PLA gives US defense chief tour of China’s aircraft carrier
Print Edition
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel got a rare tour of China’s first aircraft carrier yesterday, becoming the first foreign visitor to go aboard the ship.
The carrier visit came at the start of a three-day trip to China for Hagel, his first as defense secretary, and was described by US officials traveling with him as an apparently genuine gesture of transparency by the People’s Liberation Army and a good first step toward building better relations with the Chinese.
“The secretary was very pleased with his visit today aboard the carrier Liaoning,” said Pentagon press secretary Admiral John Kirby.
“He understands how significant it was for the PLA to grant his request for a tour, and he was impressed by the professionalism of the officers and crew. He hopes today’s visit is a harbinger for other opportunities to improve our military-to-military dialogue and transparency.”
A senior defence official said Hagel and a small number of his staff spent about two hours on the ship at Yuchi Naval Base in the port city of Qingdao.
Hagel received a briefing about the carrier, and then toured its medical facilities, living quarters, flight deck, bridge and flight control station. He also had refreshments with junior officers in the dining area.
“We didn’t see every space aboard the ship. But, yes, we felt this was an honest, genuine effort to be open about this brand new capability that they’re trying to develop,” said the official.
The 60,000-ton Liaoning, a Soviet-era vessel bought from Ukraine in 1998, was re-fitted in a Chinese shipyard before it was commissioned as the Liaoning in 2012. It was moved to Qingdao in February 2013 and is part of a major expansion of the Chinese navy that includes sophisticated new surface ships and submarines.
The carrier has yet to become fully operational, however, and military experts say it could be decades before China catches up to the far superior and larger US carriers.
The US defense official said the ship is not as fast as a US aircraft carrier and doesn’t carry as many aircraft, and PLA officers were aware of the challenges ahead.
“On more than one occasion the officers that were with us said, quite frankly, that they know they have a long way to go in naval aviation,” the official said. “It’s a difficult military capability to develop and to perfect.”
Early this year the Liaoning completed sea trials in the South China Sea. Xinhua news agency said the carrier tested its combat system, conducted a formation practice and “attained the anticipated objectives.”
On December 5, early in the Liaoning’s trial run, one of the Chinese ships accompanying it was involved in a near collision with a US Navy cruiser, the USS Cowpens, when it was operating in international waters in the South China Sea.
US Navy officials said the Cowpens maneuvered to avoid the collision, but it marked the two nations’ most serious sea confrontation in years.
At the time, a Chinese media report said the US ship got too close to the Liaoning.
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