周
二，中国第一艘航空母舰正式交付海军。这是在中日领土争端引燃中国国内民族主义情结之际，中国公开展示其挑战美国在亚洲制海权的雄心壮志。
Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
图为周二，日本海上保安厅舰艇（右）朝驶入争议岛屿附近海域的台湾船只发射水炮。台湾方面已拒绝与北京联手应对钓鱼岛问题。
然而，"辽宁舰"周二的交接入列引发了中国国有媒体的广泛关注。新华社称，中国国家主席胡锦涛和国务院总理温家宝等领导人出席了"辽宁舰"在大连的交接入列仪式。大连是座港口城市，该航母就是在这里改造完成的。中国国家电视台晚间新闻的主要内容就是关于"辽宁舰"的正式入役。画面显示，胡锦涛身穿中山装出席了入列仪式。一般在军事场合下胡锦涛才会穿中山装。
温家宝宣读了中国领导人的贺电。据新华社报道，贺电说：这艘航母顺利交接入列对于提高我军现代化水平，促进国防科技工业技术进步和能力建设，增强国防实力和综合国力；对于振奋民族精神，激发爱国热情具有重大而深远的意义。
这艘由中国船舶重工集团公司(China Shipbuilding Industry Corp.)正式交付给中国海军的航母，其象征意义大于实际意义。该航母的服役恰好赶在10月1日中国国庆节之前，而且再过几周，10年一次的敏感的中国领导人换届选举就将拉开帷幕。所以从一定程度上说，"辽宁舰"的交付似乎是为了强化国内的信息，因为中国目前与日本、菲律宾和越南等邻邦都有领土之争，而中国都是在口头上捍卫其主权。
中国声称拥有东中国海(East China Sea，中国称东海)钓鱼岛主权。该岛为日本所控，在日本叫尖阁列岛(Senkaku)。此外，中国与越南和菲律宾等国就南中国海(South China Sea，中国称南海)蕴藏丰富能源资源的水域也存在可能一触即发的争议。
过去几周，中国国内有成千上万人就日本对钓鱼岛的控制爆发了抗议活动，有些活动甚至带有暴力色彩，这也凸显出中国领导人在捍卫领土主张方面所面临的民众压力。此外，中国领导人还在努力应对美国重新在亚洲积聚军事力量的问题。在此之前的十几年里，美国五角大楼把主要精力都放在了伊拉克和阿富汗战争上。
发展航空母舰在中国长期以来一直被宣传为国家实力增强的标志。此外，这也强化了中国政府的说法，即中国在中共的领导下正快速崛起为一个友好的地区大国。而此时的美国却正为保持其1945年以来在亚太区享有的影响力而举步维艰。
新华社周二发表的一篇评论文章说，中国不会与任何国家进行军备竞赛，不会对任何国家构成军事威胁，更不会超出国力和经济实力来发展武器装备。
五角大楼曾经在报告中提到，最近几年中国海军舰艇整体数量不断上升，被美国认为现代化的舰艇比例增加。据美国国防部说，中国海军拥有大约75艘主要水面作战舰艇，如驱逐舰和护卫舰，以及大约60艘潜水艇。
如果中国军方最终能够部署航母以及必要的支援舰，中国军方的力量投射可能会增强，例如中国将能够执行距离更长和更复杂的海上和空中任务，宣示对南中国海的主权。据专家说，目前，中国飞机的最大航程不足，无法在中国领土主张的外部界限长时间飞行。
1998年，一家中国公司从乌克兰手中购买了这艘航空母舰的空壳。2011年8月，这艘航母在中国的控制下进行了第一次试航。
中国的邻国对中国日益扩大的影响力反应谨慎。美国正在与长期盟友菲律宾以及越南建立战略伙伴关系。越南也在从俄罗斯收购六艘基洛级潜艇；与此同时，菲律宾一直在敦促美国做出防务方面的承诺，一旦与中国发生领土冲突时可以获得帮助。
中国领导人认为，有必要通过一支现代的海军队伍来保护中国不断向全世界拓展的资产和利益。例如，最近几年，中国的海军一直在亚丁湾参与打击海盗的行动。不过，这艘航空母舰不太可能立刻参与到远离中国的行动中。
美国国防部在递交给美国国会的中国军事发展年度报告中说，中国第一艘国产航母的一些部件可能已经在建造之中。报告说，第一批国产航母在2015年之前不太可能准备就绪。
中国的航空母舰是数十年来中国政府努力实现武装现代化的基石。政府的数据显示，中国2012年的军费支出预计将增长至人民币6,702亿元（大约1,060亿美元），较上年增加11.2%。
中国其他能与美国对抗的军事进展包括，针对大型船只的专门导弹，包括美国在西太平洋上的航母。据五角大楼说，反舰弹道导弹DF-21D正在开发之中，该导弹的射程超过1,500公里（900英里）。
Brian Spegele
（更新完成）
（本文版权归道琼斯公司所有，未经许可不得翻译或转载。）
China officially welcomed its first aircraft carrier to its navy on Tuesday, offering a public display of its ambitions to challenge U.S. naval supremacy in Asia in the midst of a territorial dispute with Japan that has inflamed nationalism at home.
The carrier, christened the Liaoning after China's northeastern province, is at least several years away from minimal combat readiness, military experts say. In particular, Chinese fighter pilots are still learning skills needed for taking off and landing on a moving deck. Diplomats say China has yet to land a plane on the vessel.
But the addition of the Liaoning to the fleet Tuesday received broad coverage in China's state-run media. President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao were among the leaders at a ceremony in Dalian, the port city where the carrier was refurbished, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. The commissioning led the national nightly television news broadcast, which showed Mr. Hu presiding over the ceremony while wearing the Mao-style suit he reserves for military functions.
Mr. Wen, reading a letter on behalf of the country's leaders, said putting the aircraft carrier into service would 'be of great and far-reaching significance in inspiring patriotism, national spirit and driving national-defense technologies,' according to Xinhua. 'It will also be of great significance in enhancing national defense power and the country's comprehensive strength.'
The carrier's formal handover to the navy from contractor China Shipbuilding Industry Corp. is largely symbolic. It comes just before China's Oct. 1 National Day as well as a sensitive once-a-decade changeover of top political leaders set to begin in the coming weeks. It appeared in part designed to reinforce a domestic message as China verbally defends its territorial claims against neighbors including Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam.
China holds claim to the Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, known in Chinese as the Diaoyu. It also faces potentially volatile disputes with Vietnam, the Philippines and others over energy-rich waters in the South China Sea.
Tens of thousands of Chinese have protested─at times violently─against Japan's control over the Senkaku during the past several weeks, underscoring the public pressure leaders face to defend Chinese territorial claims. Top Chinese political leaders are also grappling with a resurgent U.S. military presence in the region, after more than a decade where the Pentagon focused on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The development of an aircraft carrier has long been promoted as a symbol of rising national strength. It reinforces the government's narrative that China under the Communist Party is rapidly emerging as a benevolent regional actor just as the U.S. is struggling to retain the influence it has enjoyed in the Asia-Pacific since 1945.
'China will not join any arms race, pose a threat to other countries or exceed its national and economic strength to develop arms,' Xinhua said in a commentary Tuesday.
The Pentagon has reported rising overall numbers of overall Chinese naval vessels in recent years as well as a greater proportion of which the U.S. considers modern. The Chinese navy possesses about 75 principal surface combatants, like destroyers and frigates, and around 60 submarines, according to the U.S. Defense Department.
China's military could add to its projected power if it were eventually able to deploy aircraft carriers as well as necessary support vessels. That could include running longer and more sophisticated sea and air missions to assert sovereignty over the South China Sea. Currently, its jets don't have sufficient range to operate for extended periods to the outer limits of China's territorial claims, experts say.
A Chinese company purchased the carrier's empty hull from Ukraine in 1998, and it made its first sea-trial under Chinese control in August 2011.
China's neighbors have reacted warily to its growing clout. The U.S. is forging strategic partnerships with long-time ally the Philippines as well as with Vietnam. Vietnam is also in the process of acquiring six Kilo-class submarines from Russia while the Philippines has been pressing the U.S. for defense pledges in the event of a territorial conflict with China.
Chinese leaders see a modern navy as necessary to protecting Chinese assets and interests increasingly spread across the world. China's navy in recent years has been taking part in antipiracy missions in the in the Gulf of Aden, for example, though it isn't likely the aircraft carrier will be participating in missions far from China's shores in the immediate term.
In an annual report to Congress on Chinese military developments, the U.S. Department of Defense said some components of China's first indigenous aircraft carrier may already be under construction. The first of several indigenous carriers isn't likely be ready until after 2015, the report said.
Chinese aircraft carriers are the cornerstone of a multidecade effort by Beijing to modernize its forces. China's military spending in 2012 is forecast to rise to 670.2 billion yuan (about $106 billion), an 11.2% jump over spending a year earlier, according to government figures.
Other Chinese military advances that could counter the U.S. include the development of specialized missiles designed to target large ships, such as U.S. aircraft carriers operating in the Western Pacific. One antiship ballistic missile under development, the DF-21D, has a range of more than 1,500 kilometers, or 900 miles, according to the Pentagon.
Brian Spegele
The carrier, christened the Liaoning after China's northeastern province, is at least several years away from minimal combat readiness, military experts say. In particular, Chinese fighter pilots are still learning skills needed for taking off and landing on a moving deck. Diplomats say China has yet to land a plane on the vessel.
But the addition of the Liaoning to the fleet Tuesday received broad coverage in China's state-run media. President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao were among the leaders at a ceremony in Dalian, the port city where the carrier was refurbished, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. The commissioning led the national nightly television news broadcast, which showed Mr. Hu presiding over the ceremony while wearing the Mao-style suit he reserves for military functions.
Mr. Wen, reading a letter on behalf of the country's leaders, said putting the aircraft carrier into service would 'be of great and far-reaching significance in inspiring patriotism, national spirit and driving national-defense technologies,' according to Xinhua. 'It will also be of great significance in enhancing national defense power and the country's comprehensive strength.'
The carrier's formal handover to the navy from contractor China Shipbuilding Industry Corp. is largely symbolic. It comes just before China's Oct. 1 National Day as well as a sensitive once-a-decade changeover of top political leaders set to begin in the coming weeks. It appeared in part designed to reinforce a domestic message as China verbally defends its territorial claims against neighbors including Japan, the Philippines and Vietnam.
China holds claim to the Japanese-controlled Senkaku islands in the East China Sea, known in Chinese as the Diaoyu. It also faces potentially volatile disputes with Vietnam, the Philippines and others over energy-rich waters in the South China Sea.
Tens of thousands of Chinese have protested─at times violently─against Japan's control over the Senkaku during the past several weeks, underscoring the public pressure leaders face to defend Chinese territorial claims. Top Chinese political leaders are also grappling with a resurgent U.S. military presence in the region, after more than a decade where the Pentagon focused on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The development of an aircraft carrier has long been promoted as a symbol of rising national strength. It reinforces the government's narrative that China under the Communist Party is rapidly emerging as a benevolent regional actor just as the U.S. is struggling to retain the influence it has enjoyed in the Asia-Pacific since 1945.
'China will not join any arms race, pose a threat to other countries or exceed its national and economic strength to develop arms,' Xinhua said in a commentary Tuesday.
The Pentagon has reported rising overall numbers of overall Chinese naval vessels in recent years as well as a greater proportion of which the U.S. considers modern. The Chinese navy possesses about 75 principal surface combatants, like destroyers and frigates, and around 60 submarines, according to the U.S. Defense Department.
China's military could add to its projected power if it were eventually able to deploy aircraft carriers as well as necessary support vessels. That could include running longer and more sophisticated sea and air missions to assert sovereignty over the South China Sea. Currently, its jets don't have sufficient range to operate for extended periods to the outer limits of China's territorial claims, experts say.
A Chinese company purchased the carrier's empty hull from Ukraine in 1998, and it made its first sea-trial under Chinese control in August 2011.
China's neighbors have reacted warily to its growing clout. The U.S. is forging strategic partnerships with long-time ally the Philippines as well as with Vietnam. Vietnam is also in the process of acquiring six Kilo-class submarines from Russia while the Philippines has been pressing the U.S. for defense pledges in the event of a territorial conflict with China.
Chinese leaders see a modern navy as necessary to protecting Chinese assets and interests increasingly spread across the world. China's navy in recent years has been taking part in antipiracy missions in the in the Gulf of Aden, for example, though it isn't likely the aircraft carrier will be participating in missions far from China's shores in the immediate term.
In an annual report to Congress on Chinese military developments, the U.S. Department of Defense said some components of China's first indigenous aircraft carrier may already be under construction. The first of several indigenous carriers isn't likely be ready until after 2015, the report said.
Chinese aircraft carriers are the cornerstone of a multidecade effort by Beijing to modernize its forces. China's military spending in 2012 is forecast to rise to 670.2 billion yuan (about $106 billion), an 11.2% jump over spending a year earlier, according to government figures.
Other Chinese military advances that could counter the U.S. include the development of specialized missiles designed to target large ships, such as U.S. aircraft carriers operating in the Western Pacific. One antiship ballistic missile under development, the DF-21D, has a range of more than 1,500 kilometers, or 900 miles, according to the Pentagon.
Brian Spegele
