The world's primary trouble spots are Ukraine, the Middle East and Taiwan. None of these are major blue ocean problems. All involve choke points and close coastal contact to intervene in or support operations ashore. China's one overseas naval base is in Africa. We have bases around the globe. While they aspire to become a global sea power, China is currently a regional threat, which even they admit. Within the First Island Chain, they are formidable. A pair of 1996 incidents over Taiwan, which we shut down with carrier groups, triggered China's current naval ambitions. They studied the problem, and came up with asymmetry. Their primary "tool" became the antiship ballistic missile. Cheaper and more plentiful than carriers, and at the time, no real counters to it. Antiship missiles were all cruise missiles. Forced us to invest in both better ballistic missile defense, and antiship ballistic missiles of our own. Also blunted one of our primary deterents against a war over Taiwan. We shut down a potential escalation with our carriers. Now, we have to think twice before we do that, and China is less "pacified" when we do. One of the objectives of a global navy is to influence events far from your own nation, and to deter hostilities and resolve issues to your favor short of an all out war.

Those missiles are the reason we have rethought how we will conduct any war over Taiwan. No longer will we boldly send in our carriers. First will come our subs. We will also try to provoke them to expend as many of their missile arsenal as possible on "frivolous" targets (like drones.) If we intend to actually win, we will also target the launchers within mainland China. A big chunk of that assignment has been handed to the USAF. At some point, after we blunt the bulk of the missile threat, then our carrier groups can get closer. China will very likely conduct mid-Pacific sub attacks on our supply lines, but it won't be to the extent of even the WWII German effort. The more reason we need more subs. We need them as the first wave into the First Island Chain region, and to be patroling in proximity to our convoys. When they draw out China's mid-Pacific prowling subs, ours go to work.

A war with China will be very asymmetric. Asymmetry is the foundation of their regional strategy. Symmetry would be their carrier groups against ours. Obviously, that won't work for China. They plan to destroy our carrier groups with overwhelming missile barrages, not with carriers of their own. That is asymmetry.