I'm surprised you would ask such a thing.
The reason why no nation, ever would kick our asses, is because this is AMERICA, and as long as we have leadership willing to kick butt, we don't lose. We can hire the best from ANY nation to do the math that our kids cant do, if need be.
What we cant invent, we can buy.
Bigger does not mean better, unless the whole Chinese Army plans to swim to America. They would never get here on ships, or anywhere else important, because we have weapons that you cant see, reaching out and touching folks, while you cant touch ours. The thought that one of our Carriers could be hit by anyone is sheer madness.
There is no safer place to be on the planet, than somewhere within the protected zone of a US. Carrier Battle Group.
The bottom line, is that we wont wait to be attacked. China could not make a move without getting their toys blown up before they got to blue water.
You're not inspiring a lot of confidence in me with that reasoning. You do realize, don't you, that the Chinese probably get 10 times the bang for the buck when employing technicians?
And also, your prerequisite of America having leadership that is "willing to kick butt" is not too inspiring given the fact that this *is* the country that put Bill Clinton (not to mention Jimmy Carter) into office.
A few months ago I got a little nostalgic for some of those more advanced defense-oriented technologies I used to work with, so I did a little Googling. What I found that was more than a bit unnerving is that the great majority of the whitepapers written today on these subjects are from Chinese universities!
And, finally, you mention that China would have a hard time coming over here to beat us. I can assure you that our defeat at sea would be all that is required. America is propped up by foreign investment that would quickly begin to disappear under such circumstances. And, given our dependence on importing not only equipment - but also food - a simple naval blockade would have us at one-another's throats in days - no foreign soldiers on the ground needed.
I guess it all depends on how you define "defeat".
This is a good analysis until Pres. Hillary pulls the rubber mask off her head and Mao is unveiled underneath. And she sits on our response.