> What will be America’s competitive edge in that scenario?
I'm sure that the US still has many edges over China in high-end technology. I remember I read a research article back in 2012/2013 which listed all fields that China were lagging behind, including pharma, computer chips and some other stuffs. It's a fairly long list. I'm sure China managed to catch up in some of the fields but I doubt all of them.
That section is talking about risk — saying that they're now producing a lot more research around novel engines than the US. It's not saying that their own engines are ahead yet, just that risk is high given current progress.
(and they are now producing their own engines, as seen on their new fighters, though they aren't believed to be ahead yet.)
They do lead in many areas now. They have a lot of engineers, hands-on manufacturing heft at scale (inc. a lot of internal competition), and a government that has been pumping and subsidising physical industries for many years.
China can’t produce it own jet engines from scratch. The engine on the jet fighters are made on Western tooling machine and have components imported from the West or Russia.
Will China eventually catch up? Absolutely.
But I’d temper any fear of China pulling ahead in research when they can’t even put today’s technology into full production.
I'm sure China managed to catch up in some of the fields but I doubt all of them.
And if you could guarantee that they'll never catch up in the others, we'd all feel a bit better about the permanency of American superiority.
Absent that guarantee, we need to bench test those scenarios and be prepared with plans that best serve American interests should those scenarios come to fruition.
I'm sure that the US still has many edges over China in high-end technology. I remember I read a research article back in 2012/2013 which listed all fields that China were lagging behind, including pharma, computer chips and some other stuffs. It's a fairly long list. I'm sure China managed to catch up in some of the fields but I doubt all of them.