Resurrection of the Aircraft Carrier Varyag
Beijing showed off its first aircraft carrier even though it's only for training and testing at this point.
In a ceremony attended by the country's top leaders, China put its first aircraft carrier into service Tuesday, a move intended to signal its growing military might as tensions escalate among Beijing and its neighbors over islands in nearby seas.
Officials said the carrier, a discarded vessel bought from Ukraine in 1998 and refurbished by China, would protect national sovereignty, an issue that has become a touchstone of the government's dispute with Japan over ownership of islands in the East China Sea.