Inside a carrier is how they get there. And you know for a fact the strength of the Chinese PLA there during a conflict, and that those ships would not last 5 minutes, or are you just guessing?
They would be targets from both sea and shore. But you didnt answer my question. What mission do they fill as a brown water navy off chinese shores? They would be useful as marine transport, but what else?
The US has tried to employ brown water naval vessels several time. We had hydrofoil Pegasus class vessels. They were not trans ocean worthy and would only have served a purpose as US shore defense, but that assumes we would let an enemy get that close. The US strategy is to take the battle to them, interdict their navy before it gets here.
I see a few spec ops roles this might serve, but still not a whole lot.