BEIJING: The Chinese businessman who bought an unfinished Soviet-era vessel that became his country’s first aircraft carrier was never paid back the $120 million it cost him by Beijing, he was quoted as saying Tuesday.
Entrepreneur Xu Zengping paid Ukraine a $20 million fee for the Varyag, which was eventually commissioned into the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Navy as the Liaoning, but the price ballooned once towing it to China — a process that was delayed for years — and other costs were included.
A former PLA basketball player, he was chosen to negotiate the acquisition, posing as a businessman who wanted …read more
Source: Free Malaysia Today
