China's first home-built carrier sets out for sea trials
China's first domestically developed aircraft carrier left its northeastern port to begin sea trials on Sunday, state media said, the latest milestone in the country's efforts to modernise its military.
The still-unnamed carrier was launched this time last year but since then has been undergoing fitting of weapons and other systems and has not yet entered service.
[...] "Our country's second aircraft carrier set sail from its dock in the Dalian shipyard for relevant waters to conduct a sea trial mission, mainly to inspect and verify the reliability and stability of mechanical systems and other equipment," Xinhua said.
"A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and it can last from a few hours to many days."
Also at CNN.
Previously: China Moving Full Speed Ahead in Construction of Aircraft Carriers
China Launches Aircraft Carrier
(Score: 3, Interesting) by takyon on Monday May 14 2018, @06:37AM
It lets you project power against weaker enemies, giving you the ability to launch airstrikes against countries you don't have bases near. Maybe China will gain an appetite for U.S.-style
world policingnational interest protection.Even if relatively small missiles, drones [nationalinterest.org], etc. can devastate these ships, they can prevent damage by keeping it well offshore from where they want to bomb. It's also said that China is more aggressively pursuing naval laser and railgun [popsci.com] technology than the U.S. is (the laser is applicable to protecting the ship against small threats).
China Sends Troops to Djibouti Ahead of Establishment of its First Overseas Military Base [soylentnews.org]
U.S. Complains That Chinese Military Personnel Are Injuring American Pilots With Lasers in Africa [soylentnews.org]
'China has conquered Kenya': Inside Beijing's new strategy to win African hearts and minds [latimes.com]
My family had never seen a Kenyan: The Chinese making a new life in Africa [bbc.com]
The new scramble for Africa: how China became the partner of choice [theguardian.com]
China-Africa Development Fund [wikipedia.org]
China is using soft power for now, but they may be going hard later.
[SIG] 10/28/2017: Soylent Upgrade v14 [soylentnews.org]