One of my favorite China watchers, Zachary Karabell, of the New American Foundation, says current estimates project that the aggregate Chinese economy will surpass that of the U.S. by 2020. That will provide China tremendous purchasing power (the U.S. economy is roughly $14 trillion in size), on top of that it already has, relative to declining purchasing power in the West. In the recent global financial meltdown, he says, China came out on top; it has all the money and doesn’t have any debt. The Chinese feel like they’ve won.
It is important to note that China holds the mortgage on our GNP by means of financial loans to our government. They own our government and have the cloat of influence because of such holdings. Thus, the overitures of dominance. The coy manipulations of the future will slide to China's social graces.
Be warned because not all countries are overtaken by force.