The Koreans (Hyundai heavy industries) could build a diesel powered super carrier in 2 years.
Two years? Do you mean that they could begin construction in two years or launch it in two years from laying it’s keel? If you mean launch it, I really have to wonder about that statement as it takes us on average around four years to build one and we’ve been building them since the Forrestal was launched back in the early 50’s. The Koreans have never built a carrier, much less a supercarrier so I don’t know about that two year time frame.
This is a key point which most Americans overlook.
We think everything is all about us, the US, versus in this case, China.
Well, it's not.
China has many other neighbors, all of whom will be vitally interested in China's growing military strength.
If they all work together, China could easily find that every military move it makes is soon matched not only by US counter-responses, but also responses from countries like Japan, Korea, India, Australia, Taiwan and others.
So, in what sense are China's long-term interests served by driving an arms race amongst countries throughout Asia?