Xi Jinping Air Force one
Posted by Plus_Ticket2935@reddit | aviation | View on Reddit | 215 comments
Hi everyone
With the growing tensions between US and China I was wondering: Why does Xi use an American Boeing 747 as his Air Force one and not for example a Russian Ilyushin Il-96 like Putin?
Nonions@reddit
I suspect if Comac ever starts making a wide-body airliner they will switch to that, but in the meantime Airbus or Boeing are, realistically, the only game in town.
Acceptable_Tie_3927@reddit
Putin flies 3 x IL-96, that should be good enough for Beijing.
Nonions@reddit
Putin flies in them because they are Russian. If China has to buy a foreign design anyway they might as well buy something good, or at least where spares would be much more plentiful.
Acceptable_Tie_3927@reddit
There were plenty of spare listening bugs in the Boeing VIP plane China bought, thanks to CIA... They scrapped that plane as incorrigible.
One crashed pakistani F-16 had its vertical stabilizer shattered upon impact and within it, a hidden, factory baked in sat transmitter was found - in other words, USA knew all the time exactly where those F-16s were flying and could inform e.g. India. The transmitter was powered by a Peltier electric element, running on the temperature difference between parts closer / farther to the engine, so its presence could not be discovered on the ground even if the plane was placed in an EM-shieled hall for de-bugging.
Ok-Structure-5679@reddit
It is obviously certain that USA knows where are their made jet are in use and USA never really informs india about pakistani f16, instead historically usa has supported pakistan to keep every kind of details of f16 secret , although they can not use it against india but they still do it often and whole security agreement about intelligence sharing between india and usa is focused on China not pakistan.
Law-of-Poe@reddit
They just announced yesterday they’re developing one. Probably so when they move on Taiwan and Boeing and Airbus stop servicing their fleets they’ll have a plan B
memostothefuture@reddit
The C929 has been announced 5 years ago.
Danoct@reddit
They're talking about the C939. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/chinas-comac-working-preliminary-designs-005740865.html
memostothefuture@reddit
How odd. I live in China, I at times interact with Comac and was on the first commercial flight of the C919 and I'm in the media industry and in spite of all that they didn't bother to reach out. Also haven't heard any of the aviation news in China report on it yet. Talk about shitty communications.
Anyway, thanks for letting me know.
Danoct@reddit
Probably because it's just an SCMP source vs an official announcement.
Law-of-Poe@reddit
Oh I saw it in a recent press release. Welp wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been found to a dumbass
Danoct@reddit
No no, you're fine. The new one is the C939 and is 777/A350 sized.
The older one is what previously was a join Chinese-Russian project and is 787/A330n sized.
scottydg@reddit
Was going to say, I've heard about the C929 for years by now. They're just slow to do anything about it.
FailResorts@reddit
Mainly because they don’t have access to the equipment and avionics that the other two do. I believe they’re not allowed to have Honeywell and some of the other instruments and that’s what is really holding back the non Western aircraft industry.
scottydg@reddit
Yeah, that makes sense. I'm in the industry and the company I (used to) work for did a bunch of work on the C919, and they kept threatening to make their life hell again by buying more stuff for the C929, but never actually followed through on it.
blastcat4@reddit
Didn't they recently announce a second widebody model to be developed?
Pro-editor-1105@reddit
it is literally a boeing 787 dreamliner lol, just look at the new comac
Law-of-Poe@reddit
Yep, that’s what I was getting at in my last sentence. It’s not about being innovative and capturing market share. It’s about having their “own” equipment so when the west cuts them off they’re not left high and dry.
Copying is the quickest route to that end
half_batman@reddit
Copying is the quickest way to learn. In many engineering courses, the professors make you recreate an existing recent product, and then make you explain every part of it. That way you get to learn many of the latest engineering practices. China has shown it can copy at first, then go on to innovate on its own. That's actually the best way. You shouldn't reinvent the wheel.
fighterpilot248@reddit
See also: why almost every other stealth fighter looks like a knockoff F22/F35. If it works, it works
Fu1crum29@reddit
The only one that looks like an F-35 is the FC-31 (as far as I know) because nobody has yet came out with an aircraft that wound be fulfilling a similar role, but a part of it is also because physics works the same for everyone.
There isn't a lot of creative ways to deflect radars, and everyone wants to make the aircraft as good as possible with similar technological constraints, so everyone gets similar looking outcomes. Stuff like that is why the F-18 and Su-27 look kinda similar, they're designed to do the same job at around the same time with similar constraints.
Sometimes even when aircraft have totally different jobs, they end up looking similar because aerodynamics work the same for everyone. The MiG-25 looked a lot like the F-X concepts that eventually led to the F-15, even though neither side knew about the other's work and they have totally different roles, because aerodynamics work the same for everyone and there isn't a lot of ways to make fast jets like that.
argonisinert@reddit
And what the USA did with European technology during the Industrial Revolution.
half_batman@reddit
Yeah true. Japan too. I am a software engineer. Many of my courses were taught that way.
bmalek@reddit
If you wanna have a duopoly, you gotta supply parts and support to everyone who operates them.
76pilot@reddit
But do they have a domestic engine manufacturer?
timmy186gtr@reddit
They do, but they're about 40 years behind the West when it comes to technology.
argonisinert@reddit
But coming up fast with the first fighter jets now going to domestic engines rather than the full dependence on Russia that they had until about 24 months ago.
Law-of-Poe@reddit
Not as far as I can tell.
The comac 919 that was supposedly their first “homegrown” airliner had all of its critical systems like power plant and avionics imported…
memostothefuture@reddit
The Il-96 is old and not permitted to fly in China per CAAC (=FAA) regulations. TU 154 is also banned.
Air China is a huge Boeing customer.
This is technically a 747 that is used in passenger service (and I have been on it myself) and the front part of the cabin is merely swapped out when he uses it. The reason is that in a nominally socialist state the leader is not supposed to be flaunting elite status symbols. In reality that's all horsecrap and this particular 747-800 has not been used in Pax service for a year or two, they just leave it exclusively to him now.
phonyanon@reddit
late but rare and glad to see no bullshit straight to the point info
_da_da_da@reddit
I'm curious: if the IL96 is banned in China, how did Putin get there for his recent visit?
Danoct@reddit
The same way the IL-96 lands at JFK. They're not lying there commercially; they're there for diplomatic reasons.
memostothefuture@reddit
Banned from passenger service. Airlines cannot operate it.
Powerful_Meal8791@reddit
Because unlike Putin, Xi isn’t delusional enough to think that an Il96 is better than a 747
Unusual-Term-8440@reddit
Putin maybe using a Russian plane but the engine is most likely a Rolls-Royce for reliability and safety.
747ER@reddit
Is it really a case of being “better”? Russia chose the IL-96 because it’s a Russian aircraft. The US chose the 747 because it’s an American aircraft. China doesn’t have anything that competes, so they don’t have an ‘obvious’ choice to make.
argonisinert@reddit
They could have chosen Airbus. Although the Luftwaffe-1 A340 has left the Chancellor stranded more than once...
BenMic81@reddit
That’s because it was pretty old. They’ve been replace by pretty new A350.
MorskiSlon@reddit
Four engines are desirable for a presidential aircraft, due to more redundancy.
Acceptable_Tie_3927@reddit
Recently even the Mikado flew twinjet for british coronation. (Previously it was a pair of B747s, the fore-runner just being there for air breaking / weather recce.)
BenMic81@reddit
A minor point these days. The last four engine plane that is actually not discontinued is the Il-96
AFoxGuy@reddit
Fair, though the USA government is retrofitting the last 2 remaining ‘new-old’ airframes from the 747-8i family and just bought tons of KoreanAir -8i’s. Seems like a pretty big item on their list if they’re willing to keep the 747 until the very end.
BenMic81@reddit
Sure. But it’s just not an option anymore. The A340 and A380 were discontinued, the 747 was. All significant long range widebodies these days are 2 engine models.
Not_FinancialAdvice@reddit
Now I've got this image of the German head of state calling for a tow while he tries to manage his staff like a bunch of agitated children.
747ER@reddit
The whole point of my comment is that they wouldn’t choose a non-Russian aircraft since they already have a domestic product they can use.
argonisinert@reddit
I get that.
But before 2012, the CCP had no reason to NOT choose Boeing.
tylerthehun@reddit
Well, other than the obvious choice of a 747 over an Il-96...
Bamboozleprime@reddit
I mean it would make sense if they converted an existing Air China passenger 747 to a VIP config.
frohstr@reddit
As far as I know that’s exactly what he’s flying. It used to be 747-400 that were reconfigured when necessary and afterwards returned to passenger service on Air China. The current one is an 747-8 that wears the air china livery but supposedly is extensively reconfigured so using it as a regular passenger plane while not in official use is not possible anymore.
EatableNutcase@reddit
Or an Airbus
sevaiper@reddit
Russia chose the IL-96 because it's a Russian aircraft. The US chose the 747 because it's the best aircraft for the job, as proven by tons of foreign governments using it, and also happens to be American made.
seattle747@reddit
Yes, it’s a case of “better”. The IL-96 was not a success because it simply falls fall short of the 747.
747ER@reddit
Not a commercial success, absolutely. But are you seriously expecting the Russian president to choose what is essentially their enemy’s flagship product over their own? Putin choosing the IL-96 is not because he thinks it’s better.
Harryw_007@reddit
To it's credit, the IL-96 does have an amazing safety record
bandures@reddit
In Russia's context, IL96 is obviously better. They can service it with certified parts, while parts for 747 are sanctioned.
Striking_Gap2622@reddit
They didn’t build such a large economy without being a bit practical.
WideElderberry5262@reddit
No. China doesn’t have Air Force one. China previous leader Jiang had ordered an Air Force one style from Boeing and China later found the plane full of bugs. That plane finally ended up as a commercial flight. What China does is to rent a plane from Air China 2 months before the international visit and do all the renovation inside the plane for the visit. After it is done, the plane will be returned to Air China for normal commercial flight. Since US don’t know which one will be rented, US can’t install bugs (you can’t install bugs on every fleet of Air China own).
TurbinePro@reddit
NOT WITH THAT ATTITUDE
memostothefuture@reddit
It's always the same 748 and it hasn't been returned to service in about a year, they gave up on that. You are otherwise correct.
WET-FARTS-FOR-YOU@reddit
I can try.
Main_Violinist_3372@reddit
Because a 747-8 is more iconic than a IL-96 plus looks more badass when it rolls down the apron
memostothefuture@reddit
you did not look at the picture. this is one of the 400, not 800.
Main_Violinist_3372@reddit
You’re right! You can tell the difference between a 400 and a -8 from the window shape.
Illcement@reddit
and (relatively) smaller hump
Main_Violinist_3372@reddit
Plus the 2 extra windows at the very end of the hump separated by a big gap from the rest of the windows.
memostothefuture@reddit
and the big 400 written on the front landing gear doors.
Phil-X-603@reddit
I thought they had a special 747 reserved just for this
cheetuzz@reddit
Not sure, but it reminds me of when China purchased a Presidential Boeing 767, and they discovered microphones all throughout it!
https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2002/01/19/china-finds-bugs-on-jet-equipped-in-us/65089140-2afe-42e0-a377-ec8d4e5034ef/
HumpyPocock@reddit
Huh…
Ahh that might do it…
Eh, who knows.
Puzzled_Squirrel_975@reddit
US intelligence agencies generally take a "challenge accepted" attitude when it comes to difficult-to-pull-off electronic eavesdropping.
DJSluggo@reddit
Thanks for exposing u/cheetuz lies
Hunting_Party_NA@reddit
Maybe there were 28 devices.
sevaiper@reddit
Would be pretty funny to place increasingly subtle bugs and set up framing a politician you want out of the picture at the same time
antarcticgecko@reddit
That was a neat article. Per Wikipedia, the plane has already been sold. Short life for an expensive aircraft. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_transports_of_heads_of_state_and_government
NicotineRosberg@reddit
Learn to read. It did not say that
Actual-Money7868@reddit
That's to be expected the early noughties and before were the wild west for espionage. Real analogue, brazen shit lol.
Conch-Republic@reddit
'Naughts' is never gonna stick.
Actual-Money7868@reddit
Int he UK we say "The naughties"
DaYooper@reddit
I'd say the sixties were when American spies hired thugs to murder the president
g_core18@reddit
Naughty noughties
traveler19395@reddit
They found the ones they were supposed to
zuul99@reddit
An article that is 22 years old should not be soft paywalled.
Oh god, 2002 was 22 years ago. Fuck that.
Hermeran@reddit
i didn’t needed that today.
PerfectPercentage69@reddit
Well. Well. Well. How the turntables.
https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN1FI2HG/
livesense013@reddit
Yeppers.
Cedric182@reddit
Fake news.
hellotypewriter@reddit
Oopsies.
Acceptable_Tie_3927@reddit
The original Boeing delivered to Beijing leadership was discovered to contain dozens of CIA implants (listening bugs) as factory built-in extras, so China decided to pick a random commercial 747 for use as "Mao-1" instead.
Now you get it why putin uses IL-96 or Tu-214 instead of a NATO (Airbus/ Boeing) product. In the mid-term future, BRICS members may rely on brazilian Embraer planes for a trusted 3rd-party. Hungary just bought 2 x KC-390 to aerial refuel its Gripens.
pdxnormal@reddit
Just one javelin
WeatherWindfall@reddit
So the Chinese Air Force One is a part of Star Alliance?
memostothefuture@reddit
Air China is the equivalent to United Airlines over there.
WeatherWindfall@reddit
I prefer booking flights with no hidden “Xi’s” 😉
GatotSubroto@reddit
Which is also member of Star Alliance. lol
NMVPCP@reddit
Meaning I could be on the lounge with Xi, and board on priority along with him. Maybe even ahead of him.
AFrostNova@reddit
Xi just wants to rack up the points to use when passing through duty free!
hcoo@reddit
Dude literally hid domestic for over 3years during pandemic. No points at all
the_claus@reddit
Yes. And if you are lucky, that's a code-sharing flight
Living-Aardvark-952@reddit
Comac when
CessnaBandit@reddit
Mark my words, if Comac gets EASA approval they’ll sell the C919 and upcoming widebody at low government subsidised prices lower than what Boeing and Airbus can offer. Exactly what they are trying to do with the car industry.
Falcao1905@reddit
But the Comac plane isn't as versatile as the A320 family, so it will have less users globally.
memostothefuture@reddit
Of course this is a permanent problem and nothing that could be addressed down the line.
CessnaBandit@reddit
In what way
Falcao1905@reddit
Less range and less efficient engines.
CessnaBandit@reddit
It has CFM Leap same as max and neo. Range is lower because its currently only configured for the chinese domestic market
Falcao1905@reddit
It has a worse variant of the LEAP engines, which makes it less efficient. However, it is still a great alternative and airlines should consider buying some planes.
Kaionacho@reddit
Eh. The price is only 1 part of the plane. A big reason airlines choose a plane is also the fuel efficiency, which probably outrun the cost of the plane long term. And that is not something China can control
CessnaBandit@reddit
They could price it so low it offsets the extra cost
firestar268@reddit
Comac next year
Living-Aardvark-952@reddit
Isn't it always
Tadeopuga@reddit
Just flew with air China on the 15th. The classic air China livery has to be one of the ugliest I've ever seen
memostothefuture@reddit
That's because you can't read Hanzi. To Chinese it's classic and elegant.
shock_the_nun_key@reddit
Really smart setup they do. Its a regular 747 in passenger service, so running all the time with regular maintenance.
When he uses it, they reconfigure the First / Biz cabin as an executive suite+offices.
When he comes back, they return it to passenger service.
He doesnt fly international much. Mao only left China once I believe.
chenkie@reddit
How is that smart?
GenitalPatton@reddit
Yeah this sounds like a security risk.
lifestepvan@reddit
How so? someone is gonna hide in the lavatory waiting to assassinate him?
Not to mention that a regular 747 passenger plane is already one of the more tightly secured places in the world, and obviously they're gonna prepare the plane beforehand.
GenitalPatton@reddit
Maintenance workers sabotaging vital components.
lifestepvan@reddit
As if US Air Force One has no maintenance workers?
Air China is state owned. Security will be as tight as Xi wants it to be. This is not him chartering a random plane.
manofth3match@reddit
AF1 is being maintained by the Air Force not Delta
GPBRDLL133@reddit
Believe it or not, Delta actually services some of the executive fleet. I've seen C-32s (the military 757s) at the Tech Ops hangers in Atlanta
5GCovidInjection@reddit
Delta’s maintenance division is the best in the commercial airline sector, and can do the work quickly and do it right. And they have lots of experience working on 757s.
But they’ll charge a pretty penny for it, and the Air Force will be happy to pay it so they can get their planes back ASAP.
Steven_2769@reddit
AF1’s maintenance workers are in the airforce, and you wouldn’t believe the intense screening and experience they have.
GenitalPatton@reddit
At this point I don’t think you are looking for a serious conversation if you really think flying a commercial airline is more secure than flying on the most secure aircraft in the world.
Chem_BPY@reddit
I'm pretty sure any changes in configuration are purely cosmetic. These workers wouldn't be messing with any vital components anyway.
SukiyakiP@reddit
It’s more a historical tradition/propaganda which goes: unlike the corrupted capitalist United States, we don’t have a plane dedicated to the leader, our great leader just takes a regular plane like anyone else. Look how great we are!
argonisinert@reddit
Some truth to that probably.
That and they have a much smaller bulls eye on their back with only being involved in two military "excursions" since their founding in 1947.
Dag-nabbit@reddit
Tibet, Vietnam, Outer Mongolia, Korea, Taiwan straights 1, Taiwan straights 2, Russia River crisis, Xinjin etc.
What the fuck are you on about 2 excursions? China pushes in every cardinal direction…
Not saying keeping the presidential plane duel purpose is bad but China is very much NOT a limited excursion country.
PCRorNAT@reddit
Having nine 747s to choose from sounds better than only 2 like the USA has.
manofth3match@reddit
The difference is AF1 is always ready to act as the US presidents command center in the sky at a moments notice. Seems like a pretty important function for the leader of a superpower.
PCRorNAT@reddit
Totally agree. The USA solution would be a complete waste of resources for any other country.
That's why they dont do it.
ACatWithAThumb@reddit
Many larger nations have this system, it’s not unique to the US. The German air force for example has 3 dedicated A350 and an entire fleet or medium to short range air craft including helicopters. Same with France who uses several A330 for the president. South Korea also uses special upgraded version of the Boeing 747-8l in a double set up like the US.
argonisinert@reddit
Having invaded at least a dozen countries in time period since the PRC was founded, yes the US needs such a command center.
Most other head of state (even nuclear powers like France and the UK) are fine traveling commercial when they need to.
LharDrol@reddit
the US air force has more planes than just the 747s that can serve as air force one
chenkie@reddit
But the US doesn’t even use a 747
PlaneguyA350@reddit
Air Force 1 is typing… in fact they have 2
PCRorNAT@reddit
The US is currently rebuilding (pulled from storage) two of the exact planes that China uses in the picture to ferry the top members of the govt around the planet.
shock_the_nun_key@reddit
Planes need to fly to stay in good order.
UtilityBus@reddit
Actual LOL. I guess you literally think an airliner needs exercise or something. There's a massive difference between storing a plane at Pinal and putting it into passenger service in between bouts of shuttling the president around.
UtilityBus@reddit
how the fuck is this nonsense statement being upvoted lol
This kid literally thinks his airliner needs exercise or something
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StingingBum@reddit
Planes fuselage only have a certain amount of hours in the air. The more you fly it the more like the fuselage structure will have wear and tear. Thus results in the likelihood for more accidents.
Joshwoum8@reddit
That can be done without this approach, so again makes no sense.
shock_the_nun_key@reddit
The guy needs it about 1 week a year.
Having the best operating one of the nine they own works very well for them.
chenkie@reddit
Great… so fly the plane??? It doesn’t need to be in full commercial service to fly. It’s the damn government, they can fly it all they like.
SpaceDetective@reddit
It's less wasteful at least.
frohstr@reddit
As far as I know that used to be the case but with the switch to the 747-8i the changes have become much more extensive so it is not used for regular service anymore
memostothefuture@reddit
You might want to rethink that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_international_trips_made_by_Xi_Jinping#2023
passthespliff@reddit
Reading comprehension = sub zero
Owl_lamington@reddit
I think you don't understand what AF1 is.
shock_the_nun_key@reddit
Its the radio call sign of whatever US Airforce fixed wing aircraft the current US president is flying on.
Frequently domestically the 757 is used. Nearly always abroad, the 747 frame is used (including the E-4), which used to "tag along" with the VC-25s until the Mid 1990s, so the president coul move from the VC-25 to the E-4 even while overseas in just a couple of hours.
LharDrol@reddit
i see the 757 all the time doing touch and goes at RIC. live right under the flight path
WanTjhen777@reddit
Not so much these days actually (although CA did do it back in the 747-400 era)
Nowadays there is indeed a 747-8i of Air China configured in VIP configuration solely for Xi's use (B-2479)
dump_reddits_ipo@reddit
mao never left china. he was convinced what they had built by the end of the 1960s was already full socialism, while deng (who had studied in france) and others knew better.
shock_the_nun_key@reddit
I think he visited Russia.
https://sites.temple.edu/immerman/maos-moscow-visit-december-1949-february-1950/
PlaneguyA350@reddit
He visited Moscow again in 1957 for the International Meeting of Communist and Workers Parties just before the Sino-Soviet Split.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1957_International_Meeting_of_Communist_and_Workers_Parties
GenitalPatton@reddit
Lots of bots in here today lol
NagyonMeleg@reddit
Are they in the room right now?
Steven_2769@reddit
Yes
IvyDialtone@reddit
lol, they a member of the star alliance? Gotta get those loyalty points I guess lol
Bizzardberd@reddit
Tell me China is trying to economically take over the u.s without telling me
RepresentativeBite76@reddit
Air Forche Wan
N8dork2020@reddit
Because CHINA IS NUMBER ONE
N8dork2020@reddit
Because CHINA IS NUMBER ONE
spastical-mackerel@reddit
Because Xi isn’t a little b***h like Putin. Xi isn’t a delusional mystic who thinks he’s going to rebuild the Chinese empire, and so can afford to buy, operate and maintain a whip befitting his station. Putin thinks Russia is a world industrial and military power, so he rides around in a Soviet era claptrap.
backcountrydrifter@reddit
Putin will be the cherrymax rivet that brings China down.
If you look at Xinjiang providence (where the Uighur population is centralized) on a map there is a tiny little section that touches Russia. It’s critical because Xi’s ambition to have a “new Silk Road” to Europe would have to cross either there or about a weeks travel by rail out and around Mongolia. Xi’s plan is ambitious. He wants China to rule the world and he has been pretty clear about it judging by his quiet actions. It’s just that hardly anyone outside of China speaks mandarin so nobody really listened in 2012 when he said “he would control the internet”. It seemed audacious and frankly ridiculous before a handful of ISP’s started centralizing. Xi, for his part, had the CCP start weibo- “the everything app” in China which morphed/split into WeChat.
https://www.pandametrics.com/blog/two-sides-of-the-same-coin-the-wechat-weibo-difference-explained
It works well for an authoritarian to be able to control free speech and centralize surveillance. It’s invaluable for keeping tabs on 1.4B people, especially when they compare you to Winnie the Pooh. It was effective for a while, but it is insanely inefficient to pay/trust someone to spend a 12 hour day monitoring 1 minute sections of social media.
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/world/chinese-president-xi-jinping-winnie-the-pooh-taiwan-b1073403.html
When the people just switched to Cantonese, Xi had to hire a bunch of Cantonese speakers. Then they just started referring to him as “Mr. Shitface”, a less than flattering reference to a story he loves to tell from his childhood when a bio-digester blew up in his face. You see where this is going. It’s REALLY hard to keep up with 1.4B peoples daily Twitter diarrhea.
Xi needed A.I.
https://open.spotify.com/show/62dyKz8nKOOCjoU3E5ECdn?si=8k2Jtx8TRWq2n2Z1bpThKA
https://nsiteam.com/social/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/AI-China-Russia-Global-WP_FINAL_forcopying_Edited-EDITED.pdf#page=57
https://www.spytalk.co/p/chinas-intelligence-shakeup-boosts
And A.I. needs microprocessors.
Conveniently for Xi the worlds supply is primarily made 90 miles south of China. Inconveniently it’s on an island that has tasted democracy and liked it so much that it consistently gets the top rating of democracies in the world.
Business Insiderwww.businessinsider.comChina Built Mock-up of Taiwan Government Area in the Desert: Images
So Xi does the napkin math- what are the chances of a kid that went off to college 20 years ago, did lots of good drugs, met lots of nice girls, and pretty much mainlined freedom, coming back and living with cantankerous old dad?
His chances didn’t look good. His other kid Hong Kong had been on a study abroad program in England. And other than calling on the holidays, has made it pretty clear they were living their best life now. There was no malice, Hong Kong was just doing its own thing.
When Xi tried to rope Hong Kong back in with a classic Chinese guilt trip, they pretty much told him to fuck off. So Xi had to get a little violent.
Taiwan wasn’t going to be so easy. The old man needed some leverage.
But more importantly he needed those chips. Xi had to get creative.
The problem is everyone remembered growing up there in the 90’s when people were dropping babies on street corners and Tiananmen Square was still an open wound. It wasn’t the best home environment. Add to that everyone still being a little sparse on food and there is just no fucking way that anyone is moving back in with dad.
Unless……
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AZFUNGUY85@reddit
Big plane little man
Conch-Republic@reddit
Because the 747 is a symbol of superiority.
Longjumping_Rule_560@reddit
Pooh bear force one
zzzehar@reddit
They need a better font
IAmADingusIRL@reddit
I’ve flown on this from Beijing to San Francisco in 2016.
NicotineRosberg@reddit
Oh boy here goes the brain rot comments now 😔
SwissCanuck@reddit
What’s political about a photo of a presidential aircraft?
Majakowski@reddit
Only if it's against the current thing.
Odd-Magazine-9511@reddit
It says Air China on it so it doesn’t count.
LearnYouALisp@reddit
Can we get an r/PhotoshopBattles livery?
Not_FinancialAdvice@reddit
LOL Soul Plane livery.
deleted_by_reddit@reddit
[removed]
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Efficient_Sky5173@reddit
Mine would be bigger. An-225 . And a Beluga just for my golden fish bowl.
President of one of those tax heaven islands. 1 mile by 1 mile land.
Go big or go home.
Round_Ad598@reddit
Why air china if their main language is the spoken language in china?
PieceChoice@reddit
What not a COMAC! Shame on you Xi.
XenoRyet@reddit
I know what you intend, but let me get this out of my system:
Air Force One is the callsign for an aircraft owned by the USAF that the US president is aboard. Other nations don't have Air Force One's.
This would more properly be referred to as the General Secretary's aircraft.
There. I feel better now.
deleted_by_reddit@reddit
[removed]
AutoModerator@reddit
Submission of political posts and comments are not allowed, Rule 7. Continued political comments will create a permanent ban.
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Ok-Stomach-@reddit
cuz 747 is better? and China right now doesn't have jumbo jet of her own so the whole ride-ones-own thingy doesn't apply here.
No-Bus3817@reddit
Paper tiger.
Censcrutinizer@reddit
Because it’s the most beautiful airplane ever built?
BenaiahofKabzeel@reddit
Even more curious to me, why would they write the name of it in English?
steelmanfallacy@reddit
That must grind their gears to have English on the plane.
argonisinert@reddit
More frustrating would be that the pilots must talk to Chinese ATC in China in English.
OkBag9180@reddit
Gotta love the originality.
wellrateduser@reddit
Must be painful for a man with his mindset to fly the most iconic plane the US ever produced. Each of his trips is basically showing that China is not the superpower he'd like it to be.
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Altitudeviation@reddit
That's gotta hurt.
trippymum@reddit
Even in this day and age where twinjets dominate the skies, the Queen reigns supreme 🎉🙌
tempo1139@reddit
probably the exact same reason they chose to refit a 747 for the new American AF1. It is uniquely suited to the task plus the 2 decks and ability to handle the immense volume of extra comms, cabling etc. It's not an easy matter of adding military grade comms for a command center and not having an impact on the aircraft. You will likely find answers in one of the vids around on why the US chose an older 747 - in retropsect not good since apparently it qualifies as a new aircraft designation so needs to undergo full certification.... and that require rewiring the entire craft due to changes in wiring regulations since it was first built. yet another Boeing financial disaster
gjones268@reddit
Actually the answer is E4-B, saved citizens $$, just one airplane instead of two.
likufanele@reddit
If the USA wanted to remotely assassinate the prime minister of china Ji Junping could they hack a back door and decompress the air frame at altitude, therefore imploding the plane over the Indian Ocean a la MS370? Boieing has a back door to foreign sold aircraft so it would theoretically be possible
em-1091@reddit
AIM-9X
wellrateduser@reddit
Must be painful for a man with his mindset to fly the most iconic plane the US ever produced. Each of his trips is basically showing that China is not the superpower he'd like it to be.
snackandsmack@reddit
Probably not. They see a 747 and want to build something similar. China does not have a mindset of the present, but rather the future. Everything is geared toward setting China up to be the next superpower, from planes to space to semiconductors to AI. And they recognize its shortcomings due to its poverty history. So no, China isn't losing sleep from this.
Thin_Conversation866@reddit
Wow for sure, he must be in a lot of pain every time he flies in that. Can you imagine the constant agony US presidents have to deal with surrounded by stuff that are made in China?
loiteraries@reddit
They couldn’t come up with a more sophisticated paint scheme for a presidential plane?
Signdesign007@reddit
Panda Express.
wunwinglo@reddit
No Chinese jet? That says a lot.
FlexxxingOnThePoors@reddit
They copy all of our shit, lol.
Go_Jot@reddit
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery
BrewCityChaserV2@reddit
Probably because Air China operates 747s instead of Il-96s?
dodgerblue1212@reddit
He uses aircraft in Air China’s fleet. It’s not just for his use.
deleted_by_reddit@reddit
[removed]
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jikesar968@reddit
I don't think this qualifies.