Chinese aircraft carrier on 2nd set of sea trials

BEIJING (AP) — China's first aircraft carrier headed back to sea Tuesday for a second round of sea trials, the Defense Ministry said.

The as-yet unnamed carrier left the northern port of Dalian on Tuesday to conduct "technical research experiments," the ministry said in a brief statement.

The carrier is the former Soviet Varyag, towed from Ukraine in 1998 minus its engines, weaponry and navigation systems. It was dispatched on its first five-day sea trials in August following years of refurbishment.

China has kept the sea trials relatively low-key amid regional concerns about its growing military strength and increasingly assertive claims to disputed …