Chinese are getting pretty desperate in their quest to have an aircraft carrier. They seem to want to run before they can walk, though. The Chinese mainly want to go straight out and build a carrier that would be atleast similiar to the Kuznetsov if not try and compete with an active American class aircraft carrier. You know, with all that stuff Clinton was sending to China, suprised he didn't send the America to them
Japan is also on a quest to build a couple aircraft carriers. They aren't looking for anything big, mainly a couple that would be closer to the current Wasp class. Japan is really looking to start coming out of it's shell and begin to develope a more 'offensive' military to defend itself from regional threats such as China and North Korea. If these carriers are built, they'll most likely be VSTOL, so we may have another F-35C customer.
By the way, the USS New York (LPD-21) will be based in San Diego.
- Chris