Xu Zengping opens up about the clandestine operation to buy the Liaoning and unfinished business
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Xu Zengping reveals how two generals went against the central government's wishes and helped him buy the pride of China's fleet
A local government inadvertently confirmed that China is building a second aircraft carrier on Sunday, sparking a wave of media analysis of China's maritime ambitions.
China's acquisition of Varyag was contingent on a series of often improbable events. How would China's carrier program have worked out differently if Ukraine has rejected the purchase, or the Turks had refused transit of the ship, or if the hulk had sunk along the way (a real possibility at the time)?
Hong Kong-based businessman Xu Zengping pulled off the unlikeliest of military coups in 1998 - he convinced a Ukrainian shipyard to sell him an unfinished Soviet aircraft carrier for US$20 million.
It was a mission like no other. In the aftermath of the Soviet Union's collapse, one businessman armed with cash and a casino cover story scooped the world to buy the unfinished hulk of a Ukrainian aircraft carrier that would become the centrepiece of the PLA Navy.
China's military has disclosed little-known details of its first aircraft carrier base in Shandong province, acknowledging the existence of nuclear weapon facilities at the naval base.
Reports of Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning's death - or debilitating wounds - are greatly exaggerated.
China will soon start building its second locally designed aircraft carrier in Shanghai, according to a Canadian report.