A lot of people think that we are already living in a Chinese century — that the American empire is retreating and Chinese power could dominate the future — through technological mastery, military prowess and a Great Leap Forward in artificial intelligence.

I tend to be pretty skeptical of this scenario: America has outlasted challengers before and China seems to me to have remarkable strengths, yes, but also serious weaknesses.

My guest today makes a compelling case that Chinese power could really be poised to surpass our own.

Dan Wang is a keen observer of contemporary China, and his new book,” Breakneck: China’s Quest to Engineer the Future,” argues that the Trump administration’s current trade war is wrongheaded or too late, and that American pre-eminence can be preserved if we imitate the things that China is getting right.

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