‘The Long Game’ Review: Asia First, Then the World

Date: 11‑08‑2021

Source: The Wall Street Journal By David Wilezol

Beijing seeks to blunt American order in Asia, build dependence on China throughout the region and expand its dominance globally

Chinese President Xi Jinping appears on a large screen during a recent gala marking the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Communist Party.

In 1998 a former People’s Liberation Army basketball player turned businessman, Xu Zengping, purchased the Varyag, a never‑completed Soviet aircraft‑carrier hull rotting in a Ukrainian shipyard. Publicly, Mr. Xu played a free‑spending tycoon hoping to repurpose the ship as a floating casino. He was in fact the front man for a Chinese military acquisition. The previous year, a Chinese Navy vice admiral had asked him to be the go‑between in Beijing’s attempt to obtain the Varyag. In the words of Mr. Xu, “he held my hand and said, ‘please do me a favor—go and buy [the carrier] and bring it back for our country and our army.’ ”

After months of booze‑soaked negotiations with Ukrainian businessmen, Mr. Xu and his Beijing‑backed shell company walked away with the Varyag, its engine technology and the vessel’s 45 tons of blueprints for $120 million. But China didn’t begin converting the hull into an operational carrier until 2009.