The Chinese Want A Few Carriers

Let them invest billions in the past for symbolic reasons. By the time they build a few, buy, train and field a couple of airwings, they will have spent tens of billions on an anachronism. By 2020 the US will be relying on carriers a lot less. Think UAV's and precision guided missiles from smaller surface combatants and subs. Note that the Chinese public is more enthusiastic about the carriers than the Chinse military.

• "We said to them, essentially, 'Knock yourselves out. It ain't as easy as it looks,' " Adm. Timothy J. Keating, the head of the U.S. Pacific Command, said in July. "They acknowledged that and said, 'We reserve the right to develop aircraft carriers if we so choose.' They said to us there is no more prominent and visible signal of a nation's resolve and might than an aircraft carrier coming into a port."
  

They are longing for a symbol of 20th century national might. Let's hope the decide to waste a fortune on it. By 2020, China will be paying big environmental bills and feeling the effects of their aging workforce. In the short-intermediate term, we need to keep in check those who hype threats and rush to war. As we have learned....or have we?
- posted by john @ 4:54 PM