The Liaoning takes part in a naval parade on April 23, 2019.
The Chinese Communist Party’s CCTV recently revealed for the first time the internal situation of the domestic aircraft carrier Shandong, saying that the Shandong ship has to provide seven meals a day for its officers and men, two more than the U.S. aircraft carrier. However, this comparison by the official media has triggered some mainland netizens to mock the Shandong ship, calling it a “rice bucket army”.
Shandong ship internal details exposed
On April 6, the Chinese Communist Party’s CCTV revealed for the first time a close up image of the Shandong ship, and for the first time reporters were allowed to enter the interior of the ship for filming.
According to the report, the Shandong ship’s cooking class has to cook seven meals a day, in addition to the three main meals in the morning, noon and night, there are two intermeals and two night meals. Due to the lack of water on board, many foods, including rice, are free of washing and can be eaten when cooked directly.
According to the land media “Rainbow Military”, the Shandong ship serves seven meals a day, which is five meals more than the U.S. aircraft carriers, and two more meals. The U.S. carrier’s back kitchen prepares only 5 meals a day, namely breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner and supper.
However, the details of this Chinese and American aircraft carriers “than eating”, many mainland netizens expressed their disbelief. Some netizens mocked on the mainland microblogging site, saying, “What is there to be proud of when you have 2 more meals than the U.S. military?” “Shandong ship wins again”, “rice bucket army”!
U.S. media: Shandong ship is a paper tiger floating at sea
The Shandong ship was officially commissioned on Dec. 17, 2019, and despite the Chinese Communist Party media’s boasting about it, some U.S. experts have questioned whether the Shandong ship may be nothing more than a paper tiger floating at sea.
According to the National Interest website, the Shandong is far from the perfect ship. The carrier’s layout limits its military potential to match the ability of the Chinese Communist fleet to project power in areas such as the South China Sea.
The Shandong ship is pictured returning to the port of Dalian, Liaoning province, after sea trials on May 18, 2018.
The Shandong ship was designed and built on the basis of the Liaoning, which was formerly the Soviet aircraft carrier Varyag that was originally to be scrapped. Both the Liaoning and the Shandong use the Ski-jump method of takeoff, which limits the weight, weapons load, and overall combat power of the aircraft.
For example, the U.S. carriers use a catapult takeoff that allows one fighter to take off at 20-second intervals. The Liaoning and Shandong ships, on the other hand, take off one fighter for more than 10 minutes, and have no chance of winning in an encounter.
U.S. captain crosses his feet and laughs at the Liaoning
Recently, the bottom has been leaked again on the Chinese aircraft carrier combat capability. The U.S. Navy released a photo on its official website showing the captain of the destroyer USS Muscatine with his feet up on the deck, watching the Liaoning aircraft carrier not far from them, in Philippine waters on April 4. “There is no Liaoning frigate in the photo.
On April 4, the U.S. Navy destroyer USS Muscatine and the Chinese aircraft carrier USS Liaoning were seen in close proximity to each other. (Photo taken from U.S. Navy website)
As soon as the photo was released, it immediately sparked a public debate. According to current affairs commentator Tang Jingyuan, the body language of the U.S. captain with his feet crossed shows that the U.S. military does not take the Liaoning seriously at all. The Liaoning is basically a live target if it is in a state of war.
A Twitter user mocked, “The Chinese Communist Party spent so much money on military spending to warn and intimidate Taiwan, only to have this photo treat it like a sea toy. …… The real paper tiger is the Chinese Communist Party’s navy, right?!”
Recent Comments