China's First Aircraft Carrier To Serve In South China Sea

China's new aircraft carrier Shi Lang is planning to serve in the South China Sea by the next Army Day, a military source said.

The vessel will be under direct command of the country's Central Military Commission.

"An aircraft carrier is the mark of major powers," said General Qiao Liang, a military expert.

The vessel will largely expand the combat radius, raising the country's offshore comprehensive combat capabilities beyond the first island chain. Qiao said that air domination is the prerequisite of naval warfare, especially for the remote areas away from the heartland. As a result, there is no alternative for the vessel's leadership.

Rather than an armament used in actual combat, the aircraft carrier is now more a strategic weapon. Its combat function ended as the Second World War was over.

US Asks China To Explain Why It Needs Aircraft Carrier

WASHINGTON — The United States said Wednesday it would like China to explain why it needs an aircraft carrier amid broader US concerns about Beijing's lack of transparency over its military aims.

"We would welcome any kind of explanation that China would like to give for needing this kind of equipment," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters when asked whether the carrier would raise regional tensions.

"This is part of our larger concern that China is not as transparent as other countries. It's not as transparent as the United States about its military acquisitions, about its military budget," she said.

"And we'd like to have the kind of open, transparent relationship in military-to-military affairs," Nuland said.

"In our military-to-military relations with many countries around the world, we have the kind of bilateral dialogue where we can get quite specific about the equipment that we have and its intended purposes and its intended movements," she said.