(Sonstiges) Chinas Trägerprogramm

[Erich]

2. Teil:
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/1681755/how-xu-zengping-became-middleman-chinas-deal-buy-liaoning">http://www.scmp.com/news/china/article/ ... y-liaoning</a><!-- m -->

The inside story of the Liaoning: how Xu Zengping sealed deal for China's first aircraft carrier

In the mid-1990s, the former PLA basketball star was contacted by officers within the PLA Navy with a secretive mission: go to Ukraine and buy the Soviet-built carrier

UPDATED : Monday, 19 January, 2015, 9:38am
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The navy formed a team led by General Liu Huaqing in late April 1970 to investigate possibilities, according to the Southern Weekly. Liu proposed that China build its own carrier, but Beijing was wary of the idea - such a project would raise the international community's suspicions over China's territorial ambitions and in any case the country could not afford to research and develop the vessel from scratch.

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But what had seemed like a done deal wasn't. In mid-February, Ukrainian officials told him the carrier would be sold through an open auction. Other countries were interested in the ship and he had just three days to put in his bid. The sudden change in the negotiations worked to Xu's advantage - with the help of his Ukrainian friends, he was the only bidder to get his documents ready on time and meet all the key requirements. On March 19, 1998, Xu outbid opponents from the US, Australia, South Korea and Japan and won the ship.

That night an unmarked helicopter landed on the deck of the carrier. Xu did not know who it was but he had his suspicions. Spooked, he arranged the next day to have the 40 tonnes of blueprints for the carrier packed into eight trucks and moved overland to China. The Asian financial crisis meant it took Xu another year to get the money together, but the final payment - including a US$10 million late charge - was made to the shipbuilder on April 30, 1999.
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