Preparing to help defend Israel from attacks by Iran, the Houthi rebels, and the Lebanese Hezbollah, the U.S. Navy is deploying a large number of warships around the Middle East. The problem is that these deployments are incompatible with the effective deterrence of China.

The Chinese military is training for a range of wartime contingencies against the United States, including preemptive strikes. And with a shipbuilding capacity 200 times greater than that of the U.S. Navy, the Chinese navy is pumping out large numbers of capable warships including its exceptional Renhai class guided-missile cruisers.