Trefor Moss | South China Morning Post

Aircraft carriers have become the ultimate accessory for Asia's aspiring powers. If you have one - or, even better, a collection - then you're in the big-power club; if you don't, you're still just toiling in the minor leagues of world affairs. Even so, the regional carrier competition has reached a new level of intensity of late, as Japan, India and China (kind of) unveiled new ships within days of each other.