CHINA CONTINUES ITS MILITARY EXPENDITURE WITH ANOTHER AIRCRAFT CARRIER CV-17 70,000 TON SO CALLED TYPE 001 - TO BE FOLLOWED BY A THIRD ALREADY KEEL LAID DOWN - AS THE WAR HUNGRY NATION READIES ITS PAST OF WAR MONGERING HISTORY INTO THE 21ST CENTURY OF MORE BLOODSHED TO COME

BEIJING has come a long way since it first landed a jet fighter aboard what was originally HMAS Melbourne in 1987.
The former Australian aircraft carrier had been sold for scrap. But it proved a source of valuable technical intelligence for an ambitious Chinese military.
China surprised the world again with the unveiling of its first aircraft carrier, Liaoning, in 2012.
It had been bought from Ukraine in 1998.
It was supposed to have been turned into a casino.
Instead, it emerged as a fully armed and operational warship.
The People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) has been experimenting with it ever since, developing a feel for the strengths and weaknesses of carrier warfare.

Meanwhile, it’s been busy building another.
Today, tugboats have been seen moving the ship from its wharf in preparation for its first independently powered foray at sea.
This ship, so far known only as Type 001A (CV-17), is a reverse-engineered and somewhat modified version of the Soviet-built Liaoning.
Its hull was launched at the Dalian Shipyard in April last year. It’s since been undergoing fit-out. It has also been subject to a series of harbourside tests and trials.
The ship is believed to be headed towards a designated testing zone in the Bohai Sea, which has been declared a ‘no go zone’ until April 28.
“The first sea trials of China’s second aircraft carrier, built at the Dalian shipyard, are likely to take place in the Bohai Sea and Yellow Sea to test its power and design,” Song Zhongping, a military expert and TV commentator, told the state-operated Global Times

It’s an event that has military analysts in Japan, all of South East Asia, India, the United States — and Australia — sitting up and taking notice.
It means China now has two armed and operational aircraft carriers capable of projecting firepower far beyond its borders. It’s an event that further changes the balance of power in its favour.
Meanwhile, Beijing’s building two more.
Work on aircraft carrier Type 002 resumed in May last year. It’s also believed first metal was cut for the construction of Type 003 in December.

http://www.news.com.au/military/heres-what-we-know-about-chinas-newest-aircraft-carriers/news-story/