A little-known company behind the purchase of an unfinished Soviet aircraft carrier claimed yesterday it was not acting for the PLA.
But its director Xu Zengli was identified as a former captain of the PLA's Guangzhou basketball team and member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.
A source close to company, who requested anonymity, insisted its attempt to tow the 67,000-tonne vessel to Macau and convert it into a hotel was genuine.
Authorities in the Portuguese enclave have rejected an application from the buyer, Agencia Turistica e Diversoes Chong Lot Limitada, to park a carrier-hotel in their waters.
Defence analysts believed the company's US$20 million (HK$154.7 million) purchase from Ukraine last month was linked to China's ambitions to acquire an aircraft carrier which would allow it to project force into the South China Sea.
But the source said the purchase was not made on behalf of Beijing and had no link with Chinese defence forces.
