it will lead to the military-industrial lobby.

Rant mode on so ignore if you wish. Why the fuck do we need battleships? Aren't they just the EASIEST targets ever created since the advent of aircraft? Or long range missiles? I do not get it, other than they keep coastal workers employed and lobby personnel rich.

Its such a joke: that not only is China at #3 and a quarter the size of the US, the US is larger than the next five largest Naval powers put together.

https://www.therichest.com/rich-list/rich-countries/lets-sea-the-10-biggest-navies-in-the-world/

The USN by itself the 3rd largest air force. The USN has three or four the number of aircraft carriers as the rest of the world put together. If not more.

To keep China in check. That was Obama’s view.

Combined with Trump's merchantilism it's bound to have a bad outcome. The old gunboat diplomacy does nothing but spur China to create new weapon systems to counter surface warships. The same holds true for Russia but they cannot project power in East Asia the way the Chinese potentially can.

Freedom of navigation operations may appear routine but they aren't and present a threat of accidental confrontation and war.

Admirals shouldn't make foreign policy statements.

The notion that Taiwan is some kind of bulwark against Chinese "expansionism" is defective, just as reliance on Chiang Kai Shek during the 20th Century was delusional.

I'm surprised the Chinese still allow US ships to visit Hong Kong.