Retired Chinese Military Official Suggests Controversial Name for China’s New Aircraft Carrier

China’s first aircraft carrier at the port of Dalian, in northeast Liaoning province. Credit: Getty Images via the Guardian

After Japanese activists flooded to the disputed Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands earlier this month, retired Chinese Major General Luo Yuan suggested naming his country’s new aircraft carrier, Diaoyu (the Chinese name for the contested archipelago), in response.

Although the suggestion is largely symbolic, especially because the carrier – a refitted, Soviet-era vessel formerly known as the Varyag – is years away from completion, it is a strong sign of Chinese assertion over territory and foreshadows the carrier’s use in future sovereignty claims against regional nations.

According to Chinese military analysts, the ex-Varyag is likely to be based at Yalong on the southern tip of Hainan Island, close to another group of disputed islands: the Spratleys and Paracels (claimed by China, Taiwan, Vietnam, Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei).  The carrier would allow the Communist Party to assert its claims over territory, protect vital sea lanes used for trade, and create an image domestically and internationally that China is one of the world’s top naval powers.

Although the former Varyag will be China’s first aircraft carrier, several domestically-built carriers are also expected to enter the People’s Liberation Army Navy by the early 2020s.

MSC 2012 will feature a panel devoted to discussions of aircraft carrier building programmes in four countries, including China, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The panel will include RAdm Tom Cunningham, Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (Aviation and Carriers) with the British Royal Navy, Dr. Andrew Erickson, Associate Professor at the US Naval War College China Maritime Studies Institute, Dr. Probal Ghosh, Senior Fellow at Observer Research Foundation and Captain (ret’d) in the Indian Navy, and RDML Thomas Moore, the US Navy’s Aircraft Carrier Program Executive Officer. Moderating the discussion will be Dr. Stan Weeks of Science Applications International Corporation.