English: A Macao-based company with close ties to the Chinese military bought the carrier without engines, rudders or armament and said it would be moored in the former Portuguese territory as a floating casino.

At the time, most analysts said this seemed an unlikely explanation for the purchase because Macao's harbour was far too shallow to berth a warship of this size.

The Varyag has been undergoing significant work, although the Chinese Communist government is not indicating to what end. Recently, the carrier, after well over two years at the shipyards, has been painted in the offical People's Liberation Navy combatant colors, causing a stir of speculation as to what work may have been accomplished internal to the ship over the last two years and what her future holds. Many believe she will be made operational, if for no other reason, as a training ship for the People's Liberation Navy, to gain experience while the Chinese build their own carriers.