Taipei, Republic of China —Aircraft carriers are the cause of apprehension here in Taiwan. The concern is that, in the event of any future hostile action taken by China against Taiwan, U.S. carriers would be taken out by China’s increasingly capable arsenal of anti-ship missiles—and that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s air wing (PLAN AF) would bring attack aircraft and other strike assets closer to Taiwan.

Given China’s growing capability, it appears increasingly more likely that U.S. aircraft carriers would be threatened by an increasing number of advanced Chinese missiles. Three years ago, Orville Hanson, a naval weapons systems analyst, described the threat presented to Taiwan: “take out the [U.S.] carriers” and China “can walk into Taiwan.”