I have my doubts that China can ever really, truly replace the US as the global power. For one, the language and the writing are just so effin' different for most of the western world. Nobody in the western world is taught Mandarin or any other Eastern language for that matter. And I don't think the languages/writing cross each other the way English/Spanish/French/German and the other western languages do. Just look at how many words in English/French/Spanish are already used in each other's lexicon.
Bon Voyage, Kindergarten, doppelganger, siesta, the list is endless. I can't say I know one word or phrase in Chinese (mandarin), or most any other "Eastern" language. I'm quoting Eastern because you can just lump in Mandarin/Korean/Japanese and any other country in that general part of the world. I'm sure that I know at least a little Japanese due to our close ties since WWII, but still it's probably nothing like the "home" countries of Europe and all the languages that emerged from Latin (and yes I'm aware that English isn't one).
I can remember years ago, when I was a fresh college graduate in my 20's I worked with people for the first time from all over the world. Places like Singapore, Philippines, European countries, even a few Asians (I honestly can't remember what country they were from) and I was shocked to learn how much they knew about American culture. From movies and TV, sports, fashion, there were a lot of things that they knew and understood, and I knew almost nothing about their country/culture. And you may think I was gullible about this, and probably still am, but I never realized how far Hollywood reached around the world back then. All our culture, represented in our movies and TV shows, truly reach around the globe and have influence. A lot of people even now say that one of the thing that has ruined Hollywood for a lot of people is how they tailor their films and shows for foreign audiences for maximum profit. I have no idea about the rest of the world, but Chinese media (TV shows, movies, film, etc) has zero influence in my world.
And then there's the censorship. I'm told you can't get on google in china, or at least the same version of what everybody in the free world gets. No twitter (x), no Facebook or other Social Media. And I'm sure it has advantages, but censorship is limiting to innovation in my opinion.
Build all the bridges and roads you want, but nobody is going to learn the language or wants the culture. People aren't going to accept censorship, we just need you to make stuff for us cheaply is the way I see it.
