越光宝盒粤语版下载:Poll: Do we need a carrier? - Focus discussio...

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Poll: Do we need a carrier?

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Photo shows the 'Varyag' aircraft carrier being built at a shipyard in Dalian, China. The great 'Varyag' is going to be China's first aircraft carrier.


More than 70 percent of respondents in a Global Times survey supported the idea of the country developing its own aircraft carrier, despite Beijing downplaying the possibility of launching its first such vessel later this year.


Support was buoyed by the vessel's capability to shore up China's overall military power, according to the poll, conducted by the newspaper's Global Poll Center, in which 81.3 percent of respondents offered their support for that very reason.


Safeguarding territorial integrity and fending off invasions at sea were ranked as the top reasons for China to develop aircraft carriers (77.8 percent), the survey found.


But at the same time, more than half believe the building of a carrier may trigger an arms race in Asia.


The poll is based on telephone interviews of a random sampling of 1,166 people above the age of 18 in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Changsha, Chengdu, Xi'an and Shenyang.


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Some 41 percent of those polled said they believed building a carrier is economically viable for China, while 35.5 percent said it is worthwhile to have one despite the huge construction costs.


The survey did not inform respondents of the possible costs of building a carrier.


Media reports of a sea trial in July of China's first carrier are rife after photos of a vessel, Vayag, were widely circulated and discussed on online military forums.


The ship was bought from Ukraine in 1998 by China and was said to be undergoing retrofitting in the northeastern port of Dalian.


Military officials have rejected such speculation, saying that there is no relevant information available on the subject.

Peng Guangqian, an expert on military strategy at the People's Liberation Army Academy of Military Science, said China's policy of defensive military development is shared by mainstream public opinion, according to the findings.


"China's aircraft carrier, if there is one, is only part of the nation's military equipment advancement under the defense policy principle. It won't serve any strategy of global expansion or contending for supremacy," Peng said.


The reasons most often cited in the survey as to why China should develop an aircraft carrier were as follows: it would give a boost to China's military technology development and army building (75.2 percent), it would be capable of protecting China's overseas interests in missions such as withdrawing Chinese citizens from dangerous situations (59.4 percent), and it would serve as a counterbalance to the US and contain its hegemony (50.9 percent).

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Song Xiaojun, a Beijing-based military expert, told the Global Times that an aircraft carrier could also serve to secure economic development in more complicated international security settings.


"China has an increasing demand for resources and energy, some of which have to be imported from abroad. If their transportation and trade are threatened, industrialization and urbanization will be in question," Song said.


China is the world's second largest oil consumer, and its dependence on crude oil imports stood at a record high 53.7 percent in 2010, according to data released by the General Administration of Customs in January.


In addition, 68 percent of respondents supported the idea of China building more than one carrier in the future, while opposition to the idea accounted for a quarter of opinions polled.


In 2009, China's Defense Minister Liang Guanglie, in response to a question put forward by his then Japanese counterpart Yasukazu Hamada on the carrier issue, said that China needs to develop an aircraft carrier as it is the only major power in the world operating without one.


The possibility of China building a carrier has caused anxiety in the region. Last month, US Navy Admiral Robert Willard said the carrier's sea trial this summer would significantly change the perceived balance of power in the region.


The US Pacific Command led by Willard has five aircraft carrier strike groups.


Willard said Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Australia are in the process of building and expanding their submarine fleets. (Global Times)