Archive for the 'building' Category
China to build 2 carriers by 2015
China will begin construction of the country's first domestically produced aircraft carriers in Shanghai next year, with an eye to completing two mid-sized carriers by 2015, military and shipbuilding sources said.
Beijing is also expected to complete work on a never-finished former Soviet aircraft carrier moored in the northeastern port of Dalian, to provide training for carrier-based pilots and crew.
The two 50,000- to 60,000-ton carriers will rely on conventional propulsion systems, not nuclear power. They will be assigned to the People's Liberation Army Navy south sea fleet, tasked with patrolling the South China Sea, sources said.
China's carrier ambitions and the build-up of its blue-water fleet have long been of interest to Pacific nations.
National defense ministry spokesman Huang Xueping recently commented that China might build its own aircraft carriers.
However, this is the first time the goals of Chinese naval planners have been clarified in such detail.
If China does bolster its naval combat capabilities by deploying aircraft carriers, it could significantly impact the delicate military balance in East Asia.
Read the entire article:
This article appeared in Asahi Shimbun in Japan and in Navy Times in the U.S.
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald
-asahi/TKY200812310046.html
Navy Times:
http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009
/01/navy_china_carriers_010309w/
A portion of the Navy Times article:
China plans to begin building two aircraft carriers next year, a Japanese newspaper reported Wednesday, in what would be its first attempt at fixed-wing naval aviation and a potentially major new variable in the strategic calculus of the Pacific.
The two flattops each would be between 50,000 and 60,000 tons, be conventionally powered and patrol the South China Sea, according to the report in Japan's Asahi Shimbun newspaper, which cited Chinese "shipbuilding sources." The carriers could be in the fleet by 2015, the story said.
China is one of the world's largest builders of commercial ships, although its biggest indigenous warship so far has been no more than about 17,000 tons. The Asahi Shimbun reported that the carriers would be built at a new shipyard outside Shanghai and include components already on order from Russia.
A Chinese naval officer told the newspaper that one of the carriers' primary missions would be to guard the sea lanes that connect energy-ravenous China with oil and mineral resources in the Middle East and Africa.
The story is the latest in a series of reports from around the world about Chinese ambitions to field an aircraft carrier. The official People's Liberation Army Daily newspaper reported in September that 50 pilots from the Dalian Naval Academy were training for "ship borne aircraft flight." Official Russian press agencies reported in October that China had purchased as many as 50 Su-33 Flanker-D fighter jets, an updated version of the Su-27K carried aboard Russia's sole aircraft carrier. Since then, British and American news agencies have quoted top Chinese officials as expressing great interest in seaborne airpower.
"The Chinese government would seriously consider 'relevant issues' with "factors in every aspects" on building its first ever aircraft carrier, said navy spokesman Huang Xueping," according to a Dec. 23 report by the official Xinhua news agency.
Posted in aircraft carriers, building, china, Chinese, military, naval, Navy, news, politics, shipbuilding | 1 Comment »
China: Redefining "Superpower" to Mean Economic and Military Strength Without Human Rights
Human rights abuses, kangaroo courts, poor safety standards and a seeminingly callous disregard for human life in China means that this great nation is redefining the word "superpower."
The Dalai Lama, Tibet's religious leader, pointed this out in Europe early in December 2008, but few paid much attention.
China lacks the moral authority, including over the question of Tibet, to be a true superpower, the Dalai Lama said.
"Because of its very poor record on human rights and religious freedom and freedom of expression and freedom of the press — too much censorship — the image of China in the field of moral authority is very, very poor," he said.
"The sensible Chinese realize China should now pay more attention in this field in order to get more respect from the rest of the world," the Nobel peace laureate said.
Ever wonder why so many schoolchildren were killed in last year's earthquakes in China? The schools were built poorly, so poorly that they collapsed upon the first quake. Many were poorly built because of goernment corruption: the builders paid communist officials to ignore poor building practices and shoddy materials.
Why does China have such a high number of deaths in mining? Because mine safety standard are very weak and regulation and inspection is worse — where they exist at all.
So how does China hope to gain this superpower status? By emulating the actions of a superpower, of course.
In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, Chinese President Hu Jintao, center, Premier Wen Jiabao, 4th left, and other Chinese top leaders attend a New Year tea party hosted by the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) in Beijing on Thursday, Jan. 1, 2009. From left are, Zhou Yongkang, Li Keqiang, Li Changchun, Wen, Hu, , Wu Bangguo, Jia Qinglin, Xi Jinping and He Guoqiang. (AP Photo/Xinhua, Liu Weibing)
China is expanding its military and has grown to own much of the U.S. in terms of property and wealth and American debt.
China proving here it is a superpower and master of Taiwan. File photo shows Chinese amphibious tanks and marines storming a beachhead in an amphibious assault drill in China's Shandong Peninsula. (AFP/Xinhua/File) But some of those "human rights" and "moral authority" issues discussed by the Dalai Lama are foreign and indecernable to the Chinese.
China's recent poisoned milk scandal and the subsequent trial of Tian Wenhua, chairwoman of the now-bankrupt Sanlu Group, are good examples.
Melamine is poisonous. Sanlu put melamine into milk. For the Chinese government, case closed.
Except in China, workers put melamine into all kinds of food products for years.
Melamine, which is poisonous to humans in great enough concentrations, had been routinely mixed into food products in China for years — and other similar tainted substances for decades.
Ji Denghui made that statement in 2007 to New York Times reporters David Barboza and Alexei Barrionuevo.
China is able to get away with this kind of callous disregard for truth, honesty and its own citizens because the government controls the media, the legal system, and everything else. The people only "vote" for representatives selected by the communist government which works tirelessly to stay in power by keeping order — not by obeying the kinds of basic laws and rules for human dignity most Westerners would expect — and take for granted.
John E. Carey
Peace and Freedom
Soldiers of Chinese navy special force attend an anti-piracy drill on the deck of DDG-171 Haikou destroyer in Sanya, Hainan province December 25, 2008 in this photo released by China's official Xinhua News Agency. The fleet – two destroyers and a supply ship – would have about 800 crew, including 70 special operations troops and will join in the multi-national patrolling of the Gulf of Aden and waters off the coast of Somalia, the official Xinhua news agency said. Picture taken December 25, 2008. REUTERS/Xinhua/Cha Chunming
http://www.hrichina.org/public/index
China Poisoned Food, Children Died; "Show Trials," Punishment for Innocent Next?
Posted in amnesty international, building, china, Chinese, communist, corruption, Dalai Lama, doctors without borders, earthquake, food safety, human rights, kangaroo court, melamine, military, Milk, mine, mines, mining, moral authority, news, politics, quake, Sanlu, seafood, shcools, strength, superpower, tainted, trial, trials, wealth | Leave a Comment »
Obama Considers Up To $1 Trillion Stimulus Including Tax Breaks
Anxious to jolt the economy back to life, President-elect Barack Obama is considering a federal stimulus package that could reach a whopping $1 trillion, dwarfing last spring's tax rebates and rivaling drastic government actions to fight the Great Depression.
Obama has not settled on a grand total, but after consulting with outside economists of all political stripes, his advisers appear determined to make the stimulus bigger than the $600 billion they initially envisioned, aides said Wednesday.
By JIM KUHNHENN, Associated Press Writer
Obama is promoting a recovery plan that would feature spending on roads and other infrastructure projects, energy-efficient government buildings, new and renovated schools and environmentally friendly technologies.
There would also be some form of tax relief, according to the Obama team, which is well aware of the political difficulty of pushing such a large package through Congress, even in a time of recession.
While a stimulus of $1 trillion over two years is under discussion, a more likely figure seems to be $850 billion. There is concern that a package that looks too large could worry financial markets, and the incoming economic team also wants to signal fiscal restraint.
Obama Economic Stimulus: Porkfest or Necessary Revitalization?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081217
/ap_on_go_pr_wh/obama_stimulus
Posted in building, Congress, economic, economy, energy, energy-efficient, fiscal, government buildings, infrastructure, news, Obama, politics, rebates, Schools, spending, stimulus, tax, taxes | Leave a Comment »
Russia, India, China cooperate on new aircraft carriers
Russia today still has a large number of nuclear-powered submarines armed with cruise missiles and nuclear attack submarines in service. For instance, there are five Project P671 SSNs in service in the navy alone, eight Project 949B SSGNs and more than 10 Project 970 serial SSNs.
Moreover, the first of the latest-generation P885 SSNs already has been launched. The Russian navy has enough warships and large-tonnage nuclear submarines to form three aircraft carrier fleets immediately. This is in sharp contrast to China's People's Liberation Army navy's rather obsolete capabilities.
Aircraft carriers from a few years ago: From bottom to top: Principe de Asturias, amphibious assault ship USS Wasp, USS Forrestal and light V/STOL carrier HMS Invincible, showing size differences of late 20th century carriers
By Andrei Chang
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov, who is in charge of Russia's defense industry, said recently that an investment of close to $180 billion would be required to build three aircraft carriers. His remark could be inaccurate — the actual cost should be closer to $20.8 billion.
Russia's Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov. REUTERS/Alexander Natruskin (RUSSIA)
Prime Minister Vladimir Putin recently gave the go-ahead to build the new aircraft carriers, in any case. Putin said last February that building the carriers would boost the Russian economy and improve the social well-being of the country before 2020.
Still, this is a huge budget, especially under current global financial pressures. Russia had hoped to cooperate with foreign countries in one way or another to lower the total cost. This is one reason Russia has been closely watching both China's and India's aircraft carrier construction programs.
Get the Feeling Russia and China Are Slicing Up The World and the U.S. Will Be Left Out?
http://www.upi.com/Security_Industry/2008/12/17/Russia_
India_China_cooperate_on_new_aircraft_carriers/UPI-
95441229549370/
Posted in aircraft carrier, building, china, cooperation, Hu Jintao, India, medvedev, news, politics, Putin, Russia, Sergei Ivanov | Leave a Comment »
Obama 'to rebuild crumbling US'
President-elect Barack Obama has promised to invest in infrastructure on a scale not seen since the 1950s, when the US highway system was established.
He used his weekly address to outline that the spending would be part of his plan to create at least 2.5m new jobs in the ailing US economy.
He also spoke of the need for expanded access to high-speed internet and the modernisation of school buildings.
Unemployment rose by more than 500,000 during November, figures have shown.
That was the biggest monthly rise in job cuts since 1974, and it drove up the jobless rate to a 15-year high of 6.7%, up from 6.5% in October.
The figures came less than a week after the National Bureau for Economic Research said the US economy had been in recession since late 2007.
Mr Obama, who takes office on 20 January, has previously said that his incoming team will be tasked with generating 2.5m new jobs by 2011.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/us_elections_2008/7769010.stm
Posted in Barack Obama, building, construction, economy, finance, infrastructure, jobs, news, Obama, politics | Leave a Comment »
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