Why a modern Washington Naval Treaty would struggle

What would a modern Washington Naval Treaty look like?

It would resemble strategic arms limitation, but US-China status politics could prevent agreement before technical limits were settled.

START-style strategic arms limits are the nuclear-age successor to Washington Naval Treaty capital-ship ratios. Any new agreement would be technically dense and would rank the participating powers through the capabilities it allowed. Political status would be a greater obstacle than measurement alone. Washington would be unlikely to accept Beijing as an equal in the way Britain once accepted American parity, leaving the treaty vulnerable before technical limits were settled.