Eagle, I don't want to form an alliance anymore.

"Comrade General, since some compartments on the Ulyanovsk have not yet completed their final repairs, the joint exercise command post will be located on the Varyag. We have arranged a helicopter; please move to the Varyag with the rest of the Chinese comrades."

Liu Huaqing nodded.

“I understand,” he said.

Liu Huaqing was escorted out of the combat intelligence center and across the corridor back to the flight deck. A Ka-27 helicopter was already waiting on the deck, its rotors spinning slowly.

Before boarding the helicopter, Liu Huaqing stood on the deck for a few more seconds and looked back at the island superstructure of the Ulyanovsk.

One day we will have such a beautiful ship too.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

March 15, 1996, East China Sea Varyag

A thin mist shrouded the East China Sea, and a Su-33 carrier-based fighter jet was waiting at its ski-jump takeoff position on the flight deck of the Varyag.

The pilot is Chinese. His name is Zhang Yong, a lieutenant colonel in the People's Liberation Army Navy Air Force. A year ago, he was selected for the Sino-Soviet joint carrier-based aircraft training program and received complete carrier-based aircraft take-off and landing training at the Nitka carrier-based aircraft training base in Crimea, Soviet Union. Later, he practiced take-off and landing many times on the Varyag.

The Varyag's ski-jump deck is a ramp with a 12-degree incline at the front. He practiced it hundreds of times, and now it's time to show the country the results!

As the takeoff signal was given, the deck commander made a hand gesture, and Zhang Yong released the brakes and engaged full afterburner. The two AL-31F engines of the Su-33 roared at full thrust, propelling him toward the ramp in front of the deck.

"Om-"

The plane soared up the ski-jump ramp, leaving the deck at the top and disappearing into the grey-blue sky. Chinese naval officers and accompanying journalists on the bridge watched this scene through the glass.

"clap clap"

People started clapping, and some people were taking pictures with their cameras, with the sound of shutters clicking incessantly.

The photo was immediately sent to major newspapers across the country to give some reassurance to the anxious public. In the photo, a Su-33 carrier-based fighter jet painted with the Chinese military insignia takes off from the ski-jump deck of the Varyag, its nose pointing towards the gray sky, and two orange-red tail flames shooting out from its tail.

After circling once, the Su-33 began its return landing. Zhang Yong aimed the aircraft at the stern of the Varyag, carefully observing the landing guidance system composed of lights and markings. He needed to land the aircraft precisely in a landing area over a hundred meters long at a speed of several hundred kilometers per hour, while simultaneously hooking the arresting cable on the deck with the tailhook.

The Su-33 approached the tail of the Varyag at a speed of approximately 240 kilometers per hour, and the aircraft lowered its tailhook.

"boom!"

The aircraft landed on the carrier. The loud thud of the tires hitting the deck sounded like a muffled thunderclap at sea. The tailhook scraped against the deck, sending sparks flying, before catching the third arresting cable. The aircraft was brought to a stop within tens of meters by the arresting cable.

The Soviet ground crew on deck raised their fists—they had succeeded!

The Chinese generals on the bridge applauded. This was the first time the Chinese had successfully completed a takeoff and landing on an aircraft carrier, even though the carrier belonged to the Soviet Union.

But the first time is the first time!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The exercise lasted from March 15th to March 21st. During these seven days, the Sino-Soviet joint fleet conducted a series of exercises in the East China Sea:

Anti-submarine drills – Soviet anti-submarine patrol aircraft and Chinese destroyers cooperated to search for simulated submarine targets;

Air defense drill – the Ulyanovsk's formation simulates intercepting an incoming anti-ship missile;

At-sea replenishment – ​​Soviet replenishment ships conducted lateral replenishment exercises with Chinese destroyers;

Striking hypothetical targets—pilots from China and the Soviet Union piloted carrier-based aircraft to simulate attacks on NATO warships and tested airborne and shipborne anti-ship missiles;

Joint maneuvering – the fleets of the two countries form a joint formation to conduct tactical maneuvers.

Then, during the breaks in the exercises, especially during the periods when the fleet was patrolling at sea without any specific tasks to perform, Soviet officers kept trying to sell to China.

The sales pitch started at the dinner party on the first night.

The officers' mess on the Varyag was a small but tastefully furnished cabin where Chinese and Soviet officers ate together. The dishes included borscht, black bread, grilled fish, boiled potatoes, and of course, vodka.

After several rounds of drinks and dishes, a deputy chief of staff of the Soviet Pacific Fleet approached Liu Huaqing with a wine glass in hand.

"Hey, Comrade Liu!" he said with that vodka-scented enthusiasm typical of Russians. "Your destroyers performed well in this exercise—I think the Sovremenny-class is indeed a good ship."

"Mm." Liu Huaqing nodded.

"But you only have three Sovremenny-class destroyers. Three... that's not enough for the East China Sea, is it?"

Liu Huaqing did not respond.

"And the next time this happens, like if something happens in the Taiwan Strait, those damn Japanese will try to test us—you can't always rely on us to come over, can you? Two carrier battle groups coming from the Pacific and the Mediterranean, that's no small amount of fuel."

He rubbed his fingers together.

"Obviously, you need your own strength. It doesn't necessarily have to be an aircraft carrier; you can't build one in the short term. But I think you can have destroyers and cruisers, so you can hold your own in your own waters and not have to call on the big brother for help every time, right?"

He took a swig of vodka and raised the bottle.

"Comrade, vodka!"

He clinked glasses with Liu Huaqing.

"Let me tell you, comrades, we have a lot of good stuff. We don't usually sell these to our allies, but because our two countries have such a good relationship, the President... no, I mean, the General Secretary gave me special permission. Would you be interested in taking a look at the product catalog?"

Liu Huaqing looked at him, her expression unchanged.

"Aren't you pushing your product too hard? We haven't even had a few days of exercises yet. We need to see how your equipment performs before we buy it, right?" Liu Huaqing smiled.

The Soviet major general opposite him laughed heartily: "Hey, what's the rush—we're not in a hurry! I'm just chatting casually, come on! Vodka!"

Of course he's anxious!

The daily fuel costs, depreciation, and personnel expenses incurred by the two carrier strike groups in the East China Sea are not a small amount.

The Soviet Union wasn't there to do charity. Maintaining the unity of the socialist camp was a matter of appearances, while making a profit from this business trip was the real goal.

After mobilizing the fleet, Slava gave orders to the chief of staff sent by the General Staff, saying that China had suffered a great loss this time and would definitely need to buy some ships from the Soviet Union as an emergency measure. How much to buy would depend on how impressive the performance of Soviet weapons in this exercise was and how powerful the navy was.

If they bought a lot and made a big profit on Lao Zhong, then he'd think the chief of staff's pants would be too long—maybe he could pull them up a bit. But if the deal fell through...

"You at least have to earn back the fuel and exercise costs for me! If you don't, you'll be in charge of launching a three-pronged attack on Taipei!" Slava kindly instructed.

...

The Soviet Union tried to dissuade them for three days as the exercises lasted.

Every day, Soviet officers would approach Chinese generals in different places, such as the mess hall or on the deck, for a "casual chat." The content of each "casual chat" was almost always the same: you need more ships, we have good stuff, and the price is negotiable.

On the evening of March 18, the Chinese officers' quarters on the Varyag.

Liu Huaqing and several naval officers and staff closed the door.

"What should we buy? The Central Committee sent us here with a mission. Everyone should have their own opinions after these few days of exercises, right?" Liu Huaqing got straight to the point.

The central government hopes that their participation in the exercises can provide suggestions on how to spend money wisely, as the central government's finances are not abundant and cannot allow the navy to engage in unrestrained spending.

The Soviets are still pressuring Lao Zhong to buy a ship; there's no denying it—they are indeed here to do business. The question is, what should they buy?

The navy has limited funding. China's military spending has increased in recent years, but the navy's share is not large—the army and the Second Artillery Corps take the lion's share, leaving the navy with only so much money to buy ships.

The discussion will begin with the process of elimination.

“We’ll rule out the Slava-class cruisers first,” one of the staff officers said.

Several days of exercises have allowed Chinese officers to observe the actual performance of various Soviet warships up close. The Slava-class destroyers have revealed numerous problems—

The long-range air defense is inadequate; the Slava-class cruisers only have one guidance radar for their S-300F long-range air defense missiles, mounted on the hangar roof. This means the radar can only cover the aft hemisphere—the forward view is blocked by funnels, masts, and superstructures. If a threat attacks from within 180 degrees forward of the cruiser, the S-300F cannot see it, and the cruiser is essentially reliant on the two AK-630 close-in weapon systems mounted in position B.

In terms of short-range air defense, the SAN4 air defense missiles mounted on both sides of the hangar are also limited by forward visibility. Moreover, although the AK-630 30mm six-barrel rotary cannon has a rate of fire of 5,000 rounds per minute, which sounds impressive, its fire control system has average accuracy and a short effective interception range, making its interception probability against sea-skimming supersonic anti-ship missiles not very optimistic.

"The Slava-class destroyers have very poor self-defense capabilities; their forward hemisphere is practically exposed. In a battlefield with US Aegis-equipped ships, this one-way air defense design is fatal."

Everyone agreed that they would be eliminated in the honorable mention category.

Then everyone's attention turned to the two destroyers—the Sovremenny-class and the Dreadnought-class.

The Sovremenny-class destroyers are dedicated to anti-ship and air strikes, with eight supersonic anti-ship missiles as their core weapon. During the Taiwan Strait exercises, when the three Chinese Sovremenny-class destroyers passed by the Diaoyu Islands, the US and Japanese fleets clearly reacted, knowing the power of anti-ship missiles.

As for the Udaloy-class submarines, which were dedicated to anti-submarine warfare, their equipment was quite good. The Soviet Union's anti-submarine technology was not bad; decades of experience playing hide-and-seek with American submarines during the Cold War had not been for nothing.

"The problem is that these two types of ships are too specialized."

"The Sovremenny-class destroyer excels in anti-ship warfare, but its air defense capabilities are mediocre—it only has two Shtil short-range air defense systems, which are insufficient to deal with saturation attacks. If one Sovremenny-class destroyer in the formation is sunk, the formation loses its greatest anti-ship firepower. The Udaloy-class destroyer excels in anti-submarine warfare, but its anti-ship and air defense capabilities are even weaker. It lacks decent anti-ship missiles, and its air defense is also limited to the Shtil system."

If a ship dedicated to air defense is attacked, the entire formation will be left without air defense; if a ship dedicated to anti-submarine warfare is attacked, the entire formation will be left without anti-submarine warfare capabilities. The loss of any one of these dedicated ships will create a fatal gap in the entire battle group's capabilities!

Liu Huaqing listened and nodded.

"what do you mean--"

"Destroyers should move towards platform commonality and weapon modularization," the staff officer said. "A ship should have air defense, anti-ship, and anti-submarine capabilities simultaneously—perhaps not the strongest in each, but having all of them. This way, even if a fleet is lost, the overall capability will not suffer a precipitous decline."

The Americans are following this path; the Arleigh Burke-class destroyer is a platform equipped with Aegis system, Standard Missiles for air defense, Harpoon missiles for anti-ship warfare, and anti-submarine torpedoes—it has it all.

This analysis has its merits, but it describes the direction China should take when building its own destroyers in the future. The immediate question is, what can we buy now?

The Soviet Union can currently only sell the Sovremenny-class and Udaloy-class destroyers, and it is still building new, more general-purpose destroyers.

“Then let’s buy these to tide us over for now,” Liu Huaqing decided. “Don’t buy too many, just enough to get by. The key is to thoroughly understand the technology—our people need to figure out what’s on Soviet ships so we can avoid making the same mistakes when we build our own in the future.”

Soon after, China placed a naval order with the Soviet Union for four Sovremenny-class destroyers, two Udaloy-class destroyers, several Kilo-class conventional submarines, and a batch of anti-ship missiles.

At the same time, the investment in the joint Sino-Soviet upgrade of the Su-27 was increased, and an additional fifteen Su-27s were purchased to supplement the existing formation of the Air Force.

In addition to the costs of China joining the GLONASS satellite navigation project after its missiles were previously deflected by GPS interference, and the ten-year long-term usage contract... the whole thing cost approximately 52 billion rubles.

This money basically spent half of the ruble foreign exchange reserves that China had accumulated over the years.

The Soviet Union was very satisfied. This trip maintained the unity of the socialist camp, demonstrated to its allies the strength and resolve of the big brother in defending the camp, and also secured a large order worth 52 billion rubles.

We've gained both face and substance; this business trip was worth it!

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The joint US-Japan-Philippines military exercise concluded on March 19.

The U.S. issued a statement saying, "This exercise demonstrates the solidarity and resolve among allies, and the United States remains committed to maintaining peace and stability in the Western Pacific."

Then each fleet disbanded and returned home.

The Sino-Soviet joint exercise concluded on March 21.

Before concluding, the Sino-Soviet joint fleet circumnavigated Taiwan. The massive silhouettes of the Ulyanovsk and Varyag passed one after the other dozens of nautical miles off the coast of Taiwan. Taiwan's radar monitored the fleet throughout, and the dense clusters of lights on the screens traced a complete circle along the Taiwanese coastline.

The footage of this circumnavigation of Taiwan, captured in photos and videos by Soviet journalists, spread throughout the Warsaw Pact. Clearly, after Old Zhong's order pleased the Big Brother, the Big Brother wanted to help Old Zhong get revenge and issue a warning to the rebellious warlords entrenched on the small island.

Before declaring independence, remember to reconsider; it's not necessarily the case that Old Zhong will be the only one to suffer the same fate.

After circling Taiwan, the Soviet Union did something else: under the guise of "joint anti-submarine exercises with the People's Liberation Army," the Soviet Union sent two frigates and a Chinese frigate to the waters near the Diaoyu Islands. They met up with the Chinese patrol fleet left there and then circled the Diaoyu Islands several times together.

Several Chinese soldiers landed on the Diaoyu Islands and found the Japanese flag that had been planted there by a Japanese right-wing group a few days earlier.

They then tore it down. The Chinese side originally intended to destroy it themselves, but the Soviet side chose to burn it on the spot and even took a picture of the ashes of the Japanese flag and published it in the internal Soviet military newspaper.

Japan issued a diplomatic protest, but the wording was not strong at all.

Because of the Northern Territories, which Japan has claimed sovereignty over but which have been under Soviet control for decades, Soviet border troops conducted a routine live-fire exercise on the same day. They fired several shots from self-propelled artillery, and the shells landed in the sea near the Northern Territories.

Compared to Old Zhong, the Soviet Union was more unpredictable and posed a greater threat to Japan.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Taiwan, March 23.

After the presidential election, Lee Teng-hui narrowly won with 52% of the vote. He became the first president in Taiwan's history to be directly elected by the people, but he did not receive the treatment he wanted.

He's like a used sex toy by a powerful nation. When they needed him, the US and the USSR used him like a condom, rubbing him until he was covered in sparks. Now that the US and the USSR have entered a period of reflection, they've all gone home, leaving him all alone.

A few months ago he was making headlines around the world, but now that he has been elected president, the headlines are about other things: photos of the Sino-Soviet joint fleet circling Taiwan, the massive silhouette of the Ulyanovsk, the Japanese flag thrown into the sea over the Diaoyu Islands, the new Sino-Soviet arms deal, and the United States' return to Southeast Asia.

Lee Teng-hui's election was drowned out by the noise of great power rivalry.

No one talks about his Cornell speech anymore, and no one quotes "The people's desires are always in my heart."

What do the people desire?

It's just what the big powers want.

The Taiwan Strait crisis gradually subsided by the end of March, but it left behind several lasting consequences.

First, China continued the routine patrols established during the exercise. Since then, the Chinese Navy has maintained regular maritime patrols near the Diaoyu Islands and around Taiwan.

Second, the United States did not provoke further action. Washington's calculations were clear—the Soviet Union used two aircraft carriers to demonstrate that China was not alone on the Taiwan issue. The United States could contend with China alone in the Western Pacific, but it did not want to confront both China and the Soviet Union simultaneously; the cost would be too high.

Third, Japan's right wing got what they wanted. Domestic security anxieties rose, and discussions about constitutional revision and military expansion intensified. However, they also probed the Soviet Union's attitude, and in subsequent actions, Japan would likely have to consider the Soviet Union's stance before attempting to gain public confidence through provocation.

Fourth, the Soviet Union completed a 52 billion ruble deal and deepened its military cooperation with China.

Fifth, Lee Teng-hui was elected president. However, the price of his election was increased military tension in the Taiwan Strait, a renewed international scrutiny of Taiwan, and the start of routine Chinese patrols, which made his victory bitter.

Since then, relations between China and Taiwan have deteriorated sharply. The Soviet Union imposed an economic blockade on Taiwan—after all, Taiwan had nothing of value at that time. At the same time, the Soviet Union strengthened its control over Vietnam and Cambodia, and reopened its naval base in Vietnam to counter the influence exerted by the United States in Southeast Asia.