Many argue that the US is being taken over by China both militarily and economically, but it is unlikely that China can begin to pose a threat, according to Peer Nielsen in an op-ed piece in The Boston Globe on Sept 17, 2011.

Compared to China, said Nielsen, a businessman who has lived in China, the United States has a military budget almost as large as all the world's military budgets put together.

Also, the US economy, in relatively decline, is still about three and a half times larger than China's, he added. "With current growth rates, China would only overtake the United States mid-century in absolute terms; on a per capita basis, it would overtake the United States late this century, all else being equal."

The reason why many folks are fretting over China, argued Nielsen, is that they do not understand "China is a developing country in most respects, with few of the needed critical components in place to threaten the United States in the short term."

China is now in no position to compete with the US in the critical areas, says Nielsen. "The Chinese economy is also extremely unbalanced, with exports heavily favored over domestic consumption. China has no brand names to speak of; for example, although the Toshiba computer this column is typed on is made in China, the factory is not owned or managed by a mainland company. This is typical and China needs to move from assembling products to controlling the entire chain - R&D, branding, manufacturing, sales, and distribution - in order to become a commercial force on the world stage. Such transformation will not take place overnight."