How America can rebuild its fleet to counter China’s maritime dominance

China last month mounted its largest show of force around Taiwan in almost 30 years, with more than 90 naval or paramilitary vessels and dozens of aircraft operating in the air and waters around Taiwan’s ports and Japan’s southernmost islands. America has a shrinking set of options to respond if a demonstration like this turns into an actual blockade of Taiwan or a more aggressive form of conflict.

China’s shipbuilding capacity is more than 200 times larger than that of the U.S., enabling...