Beneath the surface of the western Pacific, a quiet asymmetry in naval power is reshaping the strategic calculus of the Indo-Pacific. A Centre for Strategic and International Studies assessment has formalized what defense analysts have long suspected: that China's carrier fleet, however impressive in scale, carries a structural vulnerability in undersea warfare that American attack submarines are uniquely positioned to exploit. The gap is not merely technical—it is doctrinal, historical, and potentially decisive, raising questions about whether China's carriers can serve as instruments of powe