It does amaze me that in the west many do underestimate the Chinese. The speed at which they can do things amazes me. In the west everything is bogged down by pointless rules and regulations, there only purpose seems to be to destroy industry and make us less productive while those who enforce said rules get rich and have nice pension schemes.
Going back to the 1930s many in the west totally underestimated the Japanese and what they were capable of. It was a kind racism basically and belief that we knew best and would always be best. Even though in the end the Japanese lost it was no easy win for the west. With the Chinese if it ends up a new cold war then as their money goes further than ours and also the fact they actually have lots of money it may not be so good for us. If one puts Russia and India into the mix aswell then things get interesting.