Well since China would keep its new carrier close to the mainland they would mistaken it for attacking the mainland if the Trident missile was going after its carrier. You may think we are not acting irrationally but you can accuse Kennedy of almost starting WW3 during the Cuban Missile Crisis.
US is rational. Cuban Missile Crisis and Turkey missile withdrawal quid pro quo.
You are misrepresenting history.
1. The United States decided to place nuclear missiles in Turkey to threaten the USSR.
2. The USSR retaliated by placing nuclear missile in Cuba.
3. The U.S. felt threatened by the Russian nuclear missiles on Cuba and there was a standoff between the American and Soviet navies (or actually American warships and Soviet transport ships).
4. The Soviets withdrew their nuclear missiles from Cuba in a quid pro quo for American withdrawal of its nuclear missiles from Turkey.
In conclusion, the Cuban Missile Crisis demonstrated the U.S. is a rational actor.
Oh trust me when I said is China really gonna risk a nuclear war to try to hit an aircraft carrier? Thousands of years of rich history and culture gone in minutes.
MAD works for Russians. Doesn't work too well for China.
I suspect this is true. That is why the U.S. can bully China.
MAD (mutually assured destruction) works for the Russians. You want to interfere in Georgia? We'll start with tactical nuclear weapons and keep escalating until the U.S. backs off. Very persuasive argument.
When China tries the same Russian strategy, the US doesn't believe it (see Oldman1 quote above). This is a serious problem, where the U.S. is holding Chinese people, culture, history, and civilization hostage.
Chinese are conservative by nature. The U.S. political system and leadership are erratic and makes Chinese people nervous. One look at the budget standoffs in the U.S. and Chinese will quickly conclude the U.S. has some screws loose.
MAD is an implicit threat (that the U.S. doesn't believe from China; just look at Oldman1 view above) which isn't working very well and China doesn't really want to stumble into war with the U.S.
Oh well, time for China to head back to the negotiating table with the Americans. The Russians can get what they want. China can't really. Putin is willing to fight an all-out thermonuclear war. Hu Jintao is not. Everyone knows this.