A review to be posted this afternoon by the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ ChinaPower Project debunks the cracks claims, straight up calling them “rampant misinformation.” | CSIS/China Power Project/Maxar
China Power: Debunking Reports of ‘Cracks’ in China’s Third Aircraft Carrier
In recent weeks, rampant misinformation has spread online about China’s third aircraft carrier, the Fujian. In late May, netizens began posting images online that purportedly showed large cracks in the Fujian’s deck.
On Twitter, one of these posts racked up nearly one million views, and numerous follow-on tweets have been viewed tens of thousands of times. Even more digital ink was spilled over these claims as news reports began to spread the tweets.
These reports are false. There are no large cracks in the vessel’s deck. Commercial satellite imagery captured on May 15 shows no sign of cracks or similar markings on the deck. There are also no signs that major work has been done to those portions of the deck, which indicates no repairs were made.
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Update: No, that’s not a crack in a Chinese aircraft carrier (Politico)
WNU Editor: Tow readers sent me this story last week .... WATCH Chink in China's Armour: Flagship aircraft carrier develops two mammoth fractures on flight deck (First Post). I was skeptical then, and choose not to post on it.