(Ecns.cn)—"The building of the aircraft carrier is in progress – we'll talk when it's done," said Chen Bingde, the Chinese People's Liberation Army Chief of Staff, in an interview with the Hong Kong Commercial Daily in June.
Chen's words were marked as the first official admission of China's aircraft carrier project, which has long been a hot topic for military fans and foreign press.
As a seagoing airbase, the aircraft carrier is typically regarded as the capital ship of a fleet, which strengthens a country's naval powers by integrating with other warships, expert said.
"There are nine nations which possess at least one aircraft carrier, and seven of those navies only possess one such ship. The question is, what kind of aircraft carrier do we need?" Li Jie, a researcher with the Chinese navy's military academy, wrote in an article published by China Youth Daily on Friday.
According to Li, China needs a medium-grade – or larger – nuclear-powered aircraft carrier to protect its maritime interests.
Li stressed that there are three pre-conditions for a country to build large aircraft carriers: strategic disposition, economy and geographical conditions.
Strategic disposition
The US adopted a global oceanic offensive plan as its maritime strategy during the Cold War era, Li said, containing the Soviet Union by deploying fleets and establishing naval bases around the globe.
The US's continuing desire for global hegemony was not mitigated by the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, as it aims to "stabilize the world order," he added.
"In fact, the US has become more dependent on large warships such as nuclear-powered aircraft carriers," he wrote, "because its overseas military bases are shrinking in number due to economic difficulties."
On the contrary, smaller countries do not need medium or large warships since their naval strategies aim only to protect their coastlines, Li added.
Economy
Aircraft carriers are extremely expensive to build and important to protect, which is the reason why seven out of nine countries that possess them only have one, according to Li.
The USS Ford, the future leading ship of her class among US Navy supercarriers, is costing 10.5 billion US dollars, for instance. Any fleet led by an aircraft carrier will cost a navy 20 billion US dollars, Li said.
"It will eventually cost a country 100 billion dollars, including the maintenance fees for the fleet," Li wrote. "Only countries that have a very strong economy can afford to build one of these carriers."
Geographical conditions
In addition to economic power and strategic deployment, a country's geographical conditions should also be considered.
"A country should have ports with good conditions before building a carrier," Li wrote.
Is one enough?
Li believed, as a major oceanic country, China satisfied all three pre-conditions for owning a large nuclear-powered aircraft carrier. In fact, China is entitled to more than just one.
The US and Italy are the two countries that have more than one aircraft carrier: eleven for the former and two for the latter. According to the pattern of usage, a country should at least build three or more aircraft carriers due to maintenance needs.
"It's not as if other countries don't need more carriers," Li said in the article. "But some of them are suffering from economic downturns, while others like India, for example, are planning to have more."
However, not everyone agreed with Li.
Major General Qiao Liang said the aircraft carrier is only a symbol of maritime power, rather than a major deterrent to enemies.
"No country will fight for goods at sea anymore, only pirates," Qiao said.
But Li argued that China is different in terms of geopolitical needs.
"China has territorial disputes with neighboring countries over sea areas and islands," he said in the article. "It (the aircraft carrier) is more like a platform for China to become one of the major maritime powers."
