Watching China's second aircraft carrier, the Shandong, sail into Hong Kong waters this week was quite the spectacle. I caught that TV interview too - the middle-aged bloke saying how proud he felt seeing his country's military development. And honestly, he's got every right to feel that way.
Naval power has always been the ultimate flex when it comes to projecting strength across the globe. Before long range missiles were developed, aircraft carriers were basically floating cities of power, ready to park themselves wherever they pleased and make their presence known.
When Naval Power Rewrote History
It's not just about having cool ships. It literally shapes the rise and fall of nations. Take the 1894 Sino-Japanese War, for instance. China had warships bought from Germany, but still got hammered by Japan. That wasn't just a military defeat - it was a complete reversal of fortune that saw Japan leap from feudal backwater to regional powerhouse.
And what kicked off Japan's transformation? Those famous American "Black Ships" steaming into Tokyo Bay forty years earlier. Picture this: sword-wielding samurai suddenly face-to-face with massive industrial warships. Talk about a wake-up call. The Americans basically forced Japan to open up for trade, and within decades, Japan had gone from medieval isolation to defeating both China and Russia.
China's Long Road Back to the Waves
Fast forward to modern times, and China's naval journey has been nothing short of remarkable. After starting economic reforms in 1978, it took 34 years - until 2012 - for China to get its first aircraft carrier, the Liaoning, into service. And that wasn't even built from scratch - it was converted from a half-finished Soviet hull called the Varyag.
By 2019, China launched the Shandong - completely homegrown. Suddenly, China joined that exclusive club of nations that can actually build these maritime monsters from the ground up. We're talking about the US, Russia, China, France, and the UK (India barely counts with its limited capabilities).
The Shandong: More Than Just a Big Boat
Let's talk specs for a moment, because this ship is genuinely impressive. At 305 meters long and 75 meters wide, with a displacement of over 60,000 tons, the Shandong isn't just big - it's a floating fortress. It can carry 36 aircraft, including at least 20 J-15 or J-15T fighters, and comes packed with defensive systems that would make any navy think twice.
The ship maxes out at 31 knots (about 57 km/h) and has the range to cover the entire Western Pacific. Not bad for a "conventional" carrier using ski-jump takeoffs rather than catapults.
The Game-Changer: Enter the Fujian
More advanced aircraft carriers are nuclear-powered and catapult-based aircraft take off. Nuclear power allows aircraft carriers to cruise for long periods of time without refueling; while catapult take-off can expand deck space and accommodate more carrier-based aircraft. Although China's third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, is still a conventionally powered aircraft carrier, it has an electromagnetic catapult system solely developed by China, and the traditional powered aircraft carrier can use a high-performance electromagnetic catapult system instead of the traditional steamer catapult system. China has achieved the world’s number one in this technology.
Reality Check: Numbers Don't Tell the Whole Story
Sure, America has 11 carriers to China's current three, but the US Navy's surge readiness is not pretty and they can't keep all their ships operational simultaneously. Maintenance issues, global commitments, and stretched resources mean that on any given day, roughly half of America's carrier fleet is either in dock or not ready for action.
China's building two more carriers (Type 004 and Type 005), reportedly nuclear-powered. When China has five carriers running simultaneously, they might actually have more deployable carriers than the US in the Pacific at any given moment. And unlike America, which has to “police” the entire planet, China's carriers can focus on one region: the Pacific.
This isn't just about military hardware - it's about China finally having the tools to protect its interests in its own backyard. The Shandong's visit to Hong Kong wasn't just a show of force; it was a statement that China's century of naval weakness is officially over.
Whether you're watching these carriers from the harbor or just reading about them online, the real story isn't just the impressive weaponry - it's about a nation that's finally got the maritime muscle to back up its words. And frankly, it's about time the world started taking that seriously.
Lo Wing-hung
Bastille Commentary
** The blog article is the sole responsibility of the author and does not represent the position of our company. **
Trump's Venezuela play just gave Western progressives a masterclass in American hypocrisy.
Steve Bannon, Trump's longtime strategist, told The New York Times the Venezuela assault—arresting President Nicolás Maduro and all—stands as this administration's most consequential foreign policy move. Meticulously planned, Bannon concedes, but woefully short on ideological groundwork. "The lack of framing of the message on a potential occupation has the base bewildered, if not angry".
Trump's rationale for nabbing Maduro across international borders was drug trafficking. But here's the tell: once Maduro was in custody, Trump stopped talking about Venezuelan cocaine and started obsessing over Venezuelan oil. He's demanding US oil companies march back into Venezuela to seize control of local assets. And that's not all—he wants Venezuela to cough up 50 million barrels of oil.
Trump's Colonial Playbook
On January 6, Trump unveiled his blueprint: Venezuela releases 50 million barrels to the United States. America sells it. Market watchers peg the haul at roughly $2.8 billion.
Trump then gleefully mapped out how the proceeds would flow—only to "American-made products." He posted on social media: "These purchases will include, among other things, American Agricultural Products, and American Made Medicines, Medical Devices, and Equipment to improve Venezuela's Electric Grid and Energy Facilities. In other words, Venezuela is committing to doing business with the United States of America as their principal partner."
Trump's demand for 50 million barrels up front—not a massive volume, granted—betrays a blunt short-term goal. It's the classic imperial playbook: invade a colony, plunder its resources, sail home and parade the spoils before your supporters to justify the whole bloody enterprise. Trump isn't chasing the ideological legitimacy Bannon mentioned. He's after something more primal: material legitimacy. Show me a colonial power that didn't loot minerals or enslave labor from its colonies.
America's Western allies were silent as the grave when faced with such dictatorial swagger. But pivot the camera to Hong Kong, and suddenly they're all righteous indignation.
The British Double Standard
Recently, former Conservative Party leader Iain Duncan Smith penned an op-ed in The Times, slamming the British government for doing "nothing but issuing 'strongly worded' statements in the face of Beijing's trampling of the Sino-British Joint Declaration." He's calling on the Labour government to sanction the three designated National Security Law judges who convicted Apple Daily founder Jimmy Lai of "collusion with foreign forces"—to prove that "Hong Kong's judiciary has become a farce." Duncan Smith even vowed to raise the matter for debate in the British Parliament.
The Conservatives sound principled enough. But think it through, and it's laughable. The whole world's talking about Maduro right now—nobody's talking about Jimmy Lai anymore.
Maduro appeared in US Federal Court in New York on January 6. The United States has trampled international law and the UN Charter—that's what Duncan Smith would call "American justice becoming a farce." If Duncan Smith's so formidable, why doesn't he demand the British government sanction Trump? Why not sanction the New York Federal Court judges? If he wants to launch a parliamentary debate, why not urgently debate America's crimes in invading Venezuela? Duncan Smith's double standards are chilling.
Silence on Venezuela
After the Venezuela incident, I searched extensively online—even deployed AI—but couldn't find a single comment from former Conservative leader Duncan Smith on America's invasion of Venezuela. Duncan Smith has retreated into his shell.
Duncan Smith is fiercely pro-US. When Trump visited the UK last September amid considerable domestic criticism, the opposition Conservatives didn't just stay quiet—Duncan Smith actively defended him, calling Trump's unprecedented second UK visit critically important: "if the countries that believe in freedom, democracy and the rule of law don’t unite, the totalitarian states… will dominate the world and it will be a terrible world to live in."
The irony cuts deep now. America forcibly seizes another country's oil and minerals—Trump is fundamentally an imperialist dictator. With Duncan Smith's enthusiastic backing, this totalitarian Trump has truly won.
Incidentally, the Conservative Party has completely destroyed itself. The party commanding the highest support in Britain today is the far-right Reform Party. As early as last May, YouGov polling showed Reform Party capturing the highest support at 29%, the governing Labour Party languishing at just 22%, the Liberal Democrats ranking third at 17%, and the Conservatives degraded to fourth place with 16% support.
The gutless Conservative Party members fear offending Trump, while voters flock to the Reform Party instead. The Conservatives' posturing shows they've become petty villains for nothing.
Lo Wing-hung
