This has my nomination for dumb Cold War headline of the week!

China has carried out its first successful landing of a fighter jet on its first aircraft carrier, state media said on Sunday, a symbolically significant development as Asian neighbors fret about the world’s most populous country’s military ambitions.
The home-built J-15 fighter jet took off from and landed on the Liaoning, a reconditioned Soviet-era vessel from Ukraine which only came into service in September this year…
Spend some time searching around the world. The only people “fretting” are Cold Warriors and obedient editors.
China is embroiled in disputes with the Philippines and Vietnam over South China Sea islands believed to be surrounded by waters rich in natural gas. It has a similar dispute with Japan over islands in the East China Sea.
It has also warned the United States, with President Barack Obama’s “pivot” to Asia, not to get involved.
“We should make active planning for the use of military forces in peacetime, expand and intensify military preparedness, and enhance the capability to accomplish a wide range of military tasks, the most important of which is to win local war in an information age,” Hu said.
Oh. Such a scary quote about force of arms.
China has advertised its long-term military ambitions with shows of new hardware, including its first test flight of a stealth fighter jet in early 2011, an elite helicopter unit and the launch of the aircraft carrier.
I don’t fault the journalists at Reuters especially. They get paid to crank out what the editors demand – and they have more opportunity to produce useful, informative work than many of their peers. I’m a fan of Reuters going all the way back to Edward G. Robinson. 🙂
But, this Cold War crap isn’t worth the weight of electrons it consumes. Who is the foreign power sailing into these waters? Anyone recall how Japan originally took ownership of the islands in question in the East China Sea? Folks in Formosa [Taiwan] surely do. Who is bringing a battle flotilla into waters thousands of miles from home – at American taxpayers’ expense?
I occasionally report on military hardware. What geek doesn’t? The only military in this scenario that’s operating with imperial arrogance – is the United States Navy. Mail me a penny postcard when China sails an uninvited warcraft up Long Island or into Chesapeake Bay. Please.