fat man
You do realize that many of the key scientists on the Manhattan Project were not in fact of American origin? A case can be made that without the European nationals - especially Einstein and Fermi! - the project would have been a failure. In a sense, the Project wasn’t really American.
Again, the world perception of the US prior to WW2 was that of a purveyor of cheap, crappy mass produced goods. The current world perception of China at present is a purveyor of cheap crappy mass produced goods. Add that to their technical capabilities and anyone with two brain cells to rub together would be concerned.
As for “get an education” - okay, boomer. Whatever.