China launched its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, in 2011, after buying and equipping its rusting Soviet-era hull from Ukraine in 1998. “With each new aircraft carrier, China is sending a signal that it has no peer among its neighbors,” he said. India is also wary of China’s growing activities in the Indian Ocean, and Australia is responding to China’s naval buildup with its own. Among them, only India has an aircraft carrier, one a little smaller than the Liaoning. “Although we’ve made big strides, it can’t be said that we have the technology to surpass British and French aircraft carriers,” Mr. Li said.

Source: New York Times April 26, 2017 03:03 UTC