China's navy to build new ships, planes

BEIJING - China's navy will move faster to build large combat warships, next-generation aircraft and sophisticated torpedoes in a modernizing overhaul for fighting in an era of information technology, its commander in chief said.

Sophisticated weapons are key to winning a regional sea battle, Adm. Wu Shengli told the official Xinhua News Agency late Thursday. The navy wants submarines with greater stealth capabilities, high-speed intelligent torpedoes, electronic weapons, supersonic cruise aircraft and long-range missiles with high accuracy.

"The navy will move faster in researching and building new-generation weapons to boost the ability to fight in regional sea wars under the circumstances of information technology," Wu said.

Wu's comments came ahead of the 60th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese navy next Thursday. Wu is a member of the Central Military Commission, China's top military body which is headed by President Hu Jintao.

With most of China's perceived threats to its sovereignty emanating from the ocean, the navy has been a particular beneficiary of China's modernization.

But military spending increases _ that include billions of dollars worth of new warplanes, ships and submarines to project force farther from China's shores _ have drawn concern over China's intentions from the U.S. and neighbors such as Japan, although Beijing insists it intends no aggression.

Earlier this year, China announced a 14.9 percent rise in military spending in its 2009 budget, to 480.68 billion yuan ($70.36 billion), the 19th double-digit percentage increase in defense spending in 20 years. It did not give a breakdown of the defense budget.

Wu did not mention aircraft carriers, but the official China Daily quoted Senior Col. Li Jie, a researcher at the Chinese navy's Military Academy, as saying the large combat warships would include aircraft carriers. Chinese military officials have been saying that building an aircraft carrier was simply a matter of time.

It is important for China to keep sea lanes open because it imports large amounts of oil for its booming economy. It also has disputes with several countries over islands, many in the South China Sea.

The navy should become more mobile, multifunctional and adept at operating in the high seas, Wu was quoted as saying, and focus on strengthening its noncombat operations, including anti-terrorism activities.

China has deployed two flotillas including three destroyers to the Gulf of Aden to fight piracy since late last year, in the country's first major overseas naval mission in modern times. It has escorted more than 100 ships near the coast of Somalia, and Wu said those missions would continue, according to Xinhua.

China has dozens of squadrons of destroyers and supporting ships in its three fleets, and several hundred combat ships larger than frigates, Xinhua said.

A service of the Associated Press(AP)