Push to name first carrier after Mao
China should name its first aircraft carrier Mao Zedong to honour the great helmsman, state media said yesterday.
Beijing has yet to formally announce plans to build the warship, but mainland media is already discussing what it should be called. China Central Television said naming the country's first aircraft carrier had become a hot topic among armchair military enthusiasts.
General Zhang Shaozhong, deputy director of the National Defence University's weapons technology and equipment study departments, told CCTV's Focus on Today programme: 'I think we should name it after our first leader, Mao Zedong. It is the same as in the United States, where they name their super aircraft carriers with former president's names like Reagan, Washington, Eisenhower and Bush.'
The idea was picked up by many mainland media outlets yesterday, winning widespread support.
PLA Navy spokesman General Shen Jun told Xinhua yesterday that China had a naming system for its warships and each class of warship would be named in a consistent way. He refused to say how the navy was going to name its first aircraft carrier, but pointed out that there were precedents for naming warships after national heroes.
In 1987, the PLA Navy named one of its high-seas training vessels Zheng He, after the famous Ming dynasty admiral who led a global voyage more than 600 years ago.
The navy names its missile destroyers after big cities and uses county names for attack submarines. Landing ships are named after mountains and supply vessels named after rivers. 'The names should also be easy to remember, with clear pronunciation and not repeat each other,' General Shen said.
Building the nation's first aircraft carrier has become a hot prize for the country's shipbuilders, who are fighting for big orders in the face of the global economic downturn.
Military sources in Qingdao said yesterday that the Dalian Shipbuilding Industry shipyard in Liaoning was likely to win the order. The shipyard has produced warships for the PLA Navy for four decades.
However, the Shanghai-based Jiangnan Shipyard Group told Shanghai Dragon TV yesterday that it was also 'fully prepared for China's first aircraft carrier construction'.
'We have expanded our building capacity after moving to Changxing Island, at the month of the Yangtze River,' general manager Nan Daqing was quoted as saying. 'We reach all requirements for building the first aircraft carrier for the PLA Navy now, and we hope we will do it soon.'
The shipbuilding group is China's oldest. Its predecessor, Jiangnan Machine Manufacturer, was founded in 1865 during the Qing dynasty. It was renamed Jiangnan Shipbuilding Works in 1912 and became a state-owned enterprise after 1949.
