The presence of Chinese aircraft carriers on the West Coast of Africa is no more a threat to the United States than the presence of American aircraft carriers on the East Coast of China poses a threat to China because both are increasingly vulnerable the closer they approach enemy shores. Long-range rockets can deliver nuclear strikes better than carriers even as carriers become increasingly vulnerable.
Therefore, the danger posed by these weapon platforms on the coast of Africa is not directly against the United States but against the states of Africa and potentially South America who are relatively incapable of defending against them. As aircraft carriers lose utility against superpowers with sophisticated long-range weapons, they nevertheless continue to perform their role of projecting power against second-class powers analogous to the influence of British gunboats in the 19th century.
I presume that the purpose of the Chinese is to change the nature of power in these regions by the introduction of weapons of intimidation along these coasts but not to exert an existential threat against the United States. We should understand that but we should also understand that the threat of undermining all these African and potentially South American states changes the balance of power in these vast regions and ultimately becomes an existential threat to us.
