Shi Lang Goes to Sea

It will be a long time before the refurbished Varyag is a true weapon (if it is indeed intended to be more than just a training vessel to build domestically designed hulls), but this could be the start of a path that leads to our Navy facing a navy with aircraft carriers for the first time since 1944 (the Soviet aircraft carrier threat was such a brief interlude that I hardly count it):

China's first aircraft carrier swept through fog-shrouded waters Wednesday to open sea trials that underline the country's big naval ambitions and fuel concerns about its growing military strength amid regional territorial disputes.

I have my doubts about how long big ships can last in fleet-on-fleet engagements (whether our carriers or their future carriers), but they are undoubtedly useful for diplomacy and minor wars against countries without the capacity to attack the carriers far out at sea.