China Launches First Aircraft Carrier
As if to showcase their power, China launched their first ever aircraft carrier, Wednesday, August 10. The launching was received with much jubilation across China but with doubt across the world, especially with its nearest border Taiwan.
"Its symbolic significance outweighs its practical significance," said Ni Lexiong, an expert on Chinese maritime policy at the Shanghai University of Political Science and Law. This was a statement as if to downplay the fear about China's real intentions.
"We're already a maritime power, and so we need an appropriate force, whether that's aircraft carriers or battleships, just like the United States or the British empire did," he said in a telephone interview by Yahoo!.
The first ever China aircraft carrier is about 300 meters or 984 feet long. China is on the process of modernizing and beeping up its naval force with new submarines, ships and anti-ship ballistic missiles.
This will continue probably since China is now a rising global economy in contrast to the problems being encountered by both the United States and Europe.
