Opinion | China-made C919, ARJ21 passenger jets and their significance
By Augustus K. Yeung
Modern China under the nurture and care of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has never failed to surprise the world – which has long since been amazed by and attracted to this great nation – that historically loves peace and extols the virtue of hospitality.
Recently, what caught the world's attention was the show that the C919 is featuring in the air over and above the Hong Kong harbor. But it is up to people with imagination to point out its significance for a futuristic China.
Imagine in the next two decades, China will surpass most developed nations – flooding the airspace with flights of a new generation of passenger planes, further facilitating Xi Jinping's dream of people-to-people contact – a move that is destined to promote cross-cultural understanding.
Imagine China competing with Bombardier Inc. of Canada. Hopefully, the Western world will be able, willing and ready to compete with Chinese aeronautic companies – without jealousy, hostility and hegemony.
Imagine a world in which many people are flocking to China and Asia – engaging in commercial and cultural exchanges that lead to peace and prosperity.
Looking into the future, when China's aviation technology has become sophisticated and popularized, the nation will be able to form, mobilize and utilize its growing army of middle-class tourists, cruising to impoverished countries and financially enriching them with wealth, lifting them out of poverty.
The trajectory of China's economic and technological breakthrough gives China the confidence that a bright future is ahead, thanks to Xi's BR initiative and concept of "a shared community" for mankind.
Comparable to the U.S. fleet of aircraft carriers carrying fighter jets, insisting on actualizing its acts of provocation and aggression in the name of so-called "freedom of navigation", China's fleet of passenger planes will be welcomed by the world with open arms.
What a contrast of (U.S. instigated) war and (China nurtured) peace!
Chinese aerospace company COMAC has showcased its domestically developed C919 passenger jet in Hong Kong…
A welcome ceremony for the C919 and an ARJ21, another Chinese-made jet made by the state-owned Commercial Aircraft Corp of China, was held at the Hong Kong International Airport yesterday.
At the event, Hong Kong's leader John Lee said China's successful development of the large passenger jet indicates its "leading position." He added that the two airplanes' visit to Hong Kong demonstrates the importance that China places on Hong Kong's aviation industry.
More than 1,000 orders have been placed for the C919, Lee said, and Hong Kong's Civil Aviation Department has participated in certifying the aircraft and training pilots to fly it.
COMAC is preparing to take on Airbus and Boeing in the market for single-aisle commercial aircraft. But while it designed many of the C919's parts, some key components are still sourced from the West, including its engine.
The C919 is due to perform a flyby over the city's scenic Victoria Harbor on Saturday, giving people on the waterfront a glimpse of the new aircraft, weather permitting.
Both planes will be on display at Hong Kong's international airport until Sunday and can be visited by officials and lawmakers, representatives from the aviation industry and youth groups, among others, it said enthusiastically.
The aerospace industry is viewed as an important step on the path laid out by Chinese leaders – to transform the country from the world's low-cost factory into a creator of profitable technology.
More recently, the focus has turned to other strategically important industries such as computer chips, renewable energy and artificial intelligence— But China is expected to become one of the world's biggest aircraft markets over the next two decades.
The narrow-bodied C919 airliner was in development for 16 years and received certification in 2022. It has a maximum range of about 5,630 kilometers and is designed to carry 158-168 passengers. The plane made its maiden commercial flight in May from Shanghai to Beijing.
COMAC delivered its first ARJ21s in 2014. A smaller aircraft, it can seat 78 to 90 passengers depending on its configuration, with a range of up to 3,700 kilometers. It was designed as a rival to aircraft made by Bombardier Inc. of Canada and Brazil's Embraer SA. (Source: MDT/AP)
With fervent hope – in just two decades – China will be uplifted from adversity and upgraded to prosperity, another stage of technological wealth development. It will no longer be just producing "cheap" household products for American families. It will be placed among advanced nations such as Germany and Canada, making futuristic passenger planes – greatly enhancing mankind's dream of enjoying life and economic prosperity one step further.
Consider Taiwan which in two decades may be able to return to the motherland's embrace, dissipating the gossip of going to war as is dramatized by the American and Western warmongers.
Consider Xinjiang which after twenty years will be able to shed its label of "forced labor" as the people from this providence will be wealthy enough to board the C919 and fly around – visiting places and making friends with foreigners, personally sharing their colorful story.
Consider China's Greater Bay Area, consisting of Hong Kong, Zhuhai and Macau – which by then will have become an aviation hub, witnessing passengers from all over the world, conducting business activities and promoting cultural exchanges.
The stage is set for the onlookers in the Western world that a wealthy China is never going to look back, and certainly not returning to its days of rags to riches as was in the past century – when China was aggravated, bullied, and cut to pieces territory by territory – by strong Western Colonialists and Japanese Imperialists.
Ultimately, socialist China's story is a living testimony to the CPC's perennial struggles against man-made adversity and natural calamity.
At the dawn of the new year, Chinese people are grateful to the country and the people-oriented Party that has fought poverty and won. With the nation's current emphasis on advancing scientific and technological development, imbuing people's imagination, consideration and acknowledgment, shouldn't we be self-congratulatory?!
To contact the writer, please direct email: AugustusKYeung@ymail.com
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