If the US doesn’t shape up and lead the free world by example, than yeah, China will take over.
The US has to realize that being number 1 won’t last forever if you don’t keep trying to improve things. China is the perfect example. China was the number 1 in the world many times through out history, and each time it fell to complaisance. When a society stops seeking to improve itself, and turn focus away from progress toward tradition, and how things have always been done, that’s when the rest of the world catches up.
Right now, the US has crappy governmental organization, crappy election mechanism, crappy infrastructure, crappy gun laws, crappy health care system, crappy education, crappy opiate control, crappy humanitarian records (private prisons, baby jail) . It’s not example a shining example of “freedom” when more than half of the US population is being left behind and the US is only the best when it comes to armed forces.
China will definitely export its surveillance tech around the world, making it harder for people to standup to oppressive regimes. The only way to defeat that is to have the US and the rest of the free world be and act like the real leaders of global economy.