China’s Liaoning Air Police on Monday issued a navigational warning for a zone northwest of the Bohai Sea, east of Dalian, where the country’s first aircraft carrier is berthed, amid reports that the refurbished Soviet-era vessel could soon embark on a third sea trial.
The 60,000 tonne Kuznetsov-class Varyag returned to Dalian Port on Dec. 11 after completing a 13-day sea trial, its second since the carrier was officially unveiled to the world.
According to Chinese media, People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) pilots conducted a series of low-altitude flybys on carrier-based J-15 aircraft, but no landing on deck was attempted. PLAN pilots have no experience performing difficult landings on an aircraft carrier and have been using concrete structures on land to practice on.
Military analysts are saying that as Beijing does not want to unnecessarily endanger its first aircraft carrier — designated as a strategic weapon and which will fall under direct command of the Central Military Commission rather than the PLAN — it will take its time before attempting landings on its deck.
Defense publications have also speculated that Russia has so far refused to sell to China the arrestor cables necessary for aircraft to land on the carrier.
Reports say problems identified during the carrier’s first trial had been addressed and resolved during the second.
Chinese media yesterday said the Varyag could “soon” embark on its third sea trial.
Quoting military enthusiasts at Dalian, the reports said the Varyag was docked at the pier and that “faint smoke” was emanating from the vessel, a sign that the engines were running.
In addition, the life rafts had not been removed and weapons systems were not covered by protective sheeting, reports said.
Unnamed sources said landings could be attempted during the third sea trial. No date has been given yet for the operation.
A bilateral relations fact sheet on Taiwan-US relations published on the US Department of State Web site was recently updated to remove statements saying that it acknowledged Beijing’s “one China” position, and that the US does not support Taiwanese independence. The fact sheet is produced by the department’s Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs. A previous version of the document opened with the statement: “The United States and Taiwan enjoy a robust unofficial relationship.” It said the US acknowledged “the Chinese position that there is but one China and Taiwan is part of China,” and said that the US “does
INDIRECT MESSAGE? Chinese planes might have entered Taiwan’s ADIZ to take part in drills with a carrier group that was about 500km off the east coast, an analyst said The Chinese military yesterday said it had conducted live-fire drills in waters and airspace off Taiwan’s eastern and southwestern coasts from Friday to Sunday to test and upgrade its joint combat capabilities. The Eastern Theater Command of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) posted the news on Chinese messaging platform WeChat. Over the past few days, authorities in Taiwan and Japan have observed deployments of Chinese planes and ships near Taiwan from a PLA carrier group of five destroyers, a frigate and a resupply ship led by the Liaoning aircraft carrier. The Japanese Ministry of Defense first announced on Monday last week that
China appears to have built mockups of a port in northeastern Taiwan and a military vessel docked there, with the aim of using them as targets to test its ballistic missiles, a retired naval officer said yesterday. Lu Li-shih (呂禮詩), a former lieutenant commander in Taiwan’s navy, wrote on Facebook that satellite images appeared to show simulated targets in a desert in China’s Xinjiang region that resemble the Suao naval base in Yilan County and a Kidd-class destroyer that usually docks there. Lu said he compared the mockup port to US naval bases in Yokosuka and Sasebo, Japan, and in Subic Bay
Police are investigating the death of a Formosan black bear discovered on Tuesday buried near an industrial road in Nantou County, with initial evidence indicating that it was shot accidentally by a hunter. The bear had been caught in wildlife traps at least five times before, three times since 2020. Codenamed No. 711, the bear received extensive media coverage last year after it was discovered trapped twice in less than two months in the Taichung mountains. After its most recent ensnarement last month, the bear was released in the Dandashan (丹大山) area in Nantou County’s Sinyi Township (信義). However, officials became concerned after the
RSS