One aside to N-a-B's (as usual) informative post: I would not be surprised if the Chinese stay with STOBAR until they have a nuke carrier, at which point they will jump into EMALS.
It was unfortunate timing for CVF. However, the decision to go STOVL at the outset was also influenced by the high degree of optimism around JSF in general, and STOVL in particular, in the formative 2000-04 years. Had the F-35B come in with the performance forecast early in the program it would have been a more robust capability, no SRVL necessary and possibly enough payload for beneficial buddy tanking.