×
A high-ranking Chinese military official has hinted that China’s fast-growing navy is seeking to acquire an aircraft carrier, a move that would surely stoke tensions with the United States military and its allies in Asia.China has been floating rumours of aircraft carrier construction for at least the last ten years. As such, it's not as if these particular rumours represent anything new. That said, now would not be a bad time for China to build a carrier. They've had plenty of time to study Varyag and the other two rustbuckets that they purchased from Russia. As far as I can tell the largest warships China has ever constructed are 6500 ton destroyers, but nevertheless I'd say that China is probably about as prepared to build a carrier as any country that's never built an aircraft carrier.
Perhaps as important, China is looking for ways to stimulate its economy. Defense spending isn't as productive as other forms of investment, but if the CCP feels that it's over-saturating with further infrastructure investment, a general military buildup makes some sense. The USS Yorktown and USS Enterprise, after all, began life as part of the general economic stimulus pursued by FDR in his first term.
--Robert Farley
