In the 1980s, people assumed that Japanese companies would eventually own everything in the US. You can see this in the pop culture of the time, namely in Back to the Future 2, where they go to 2015 and Marty works for a Japanese company.
I have no idea if China is in a fundamentally different position than Japan was in the 80s, but just something to keep in mind when prognosticating doom and gloom about a "Chinese takeover".
>I have no idea if China is in a fundamentally different position than Japan was in the 80s,
It is. Its economy is much bigger, it is not a democracy and, most importantly, today's China is much more expansionistic than post-1945 Japan ever was.
As far as Japan's position in the 80's, they were in a massive bubble through most of the decade all the way up to '91. When the bubble burst Japan was stopped dead in it's tracks. The 90's are called the 'Glacial era' or 'Lost decade' of Japanese economic development.
Time will tell if China is in a bubble and if so when it will pop.
I have no idea if China is in a fundamentally different position than Japan was in the 80s, but just something to keep in mind when prognosticating doom and gloom about a "Chinese takeover".