China’s Plan to Sink U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers Comes Down to 1 Word

China’s Plan to Sink U.S. Navy Aircraft Carriers Comes Down to 1 Word

In March 1996, Bill Clinton sent two U.S. aircraft carriers — the USS Nimitz and USS Independence — into the Taiwan Strait to intimidate China during the island’s first direct presidential election. Beijing had no military answer. China backed down. That single humiliation became the organizing principle of thirty years of Chinese military investment in one thing above all else: missiles, and lots of them. The result is the largest precision-str…