Here's why.
There is far more at play here than just currency. There is also hegemony at play. Perception also plays a big role in the decision making process.
The perception is that China is on the ascent while the U.S. is in decline, and that the decline is gaining momentum with each passing day.
Staying or going is a risk. Which risk is the safer risk? Which risk is projecting the more dominate stance? Which risk is projecting a hyped stance, but also shows much weakness overall?
I believe most will see China as the stronger of the two for many reasons.
The U.S. has destroyed her infrastructure to create & build, by moving their factories out of the nation. China has built factories and controls the production capabilities. China has also been given access to the intellectual property. Therefore they have they same capabilities in that arena as does the U.S.
China has control over their population, while turmoil rules in western nations. China has not been in a leadership role. The hegemony that the U.S. has ruled over the world for many decades now is perceived as possibly being worse than that China might bring to the world. After all, they abandoned people in Afghanistan with little care for doing so. Now the U.S. has gotten them into another proxy war with Russia. That conflict is also not going as planned, and they are starting to lose support, from their citizens, for continuing down that destructive path. There are many on this board that think all is well in that conflict, but that is not the reality at all. The cracks are beginning to show themselves, and will only increase as the conflict drags on.
You see, not always is the devil you know preferable over the devil you don't know. So, you take a chance. I think the world is tired of taking its marching orders from the the U.S. Not saying they are making the correct move, just saying that the likelihood for seeking change just might be ready to take the risk.
When it does, the damage it will do to this nation will be swift & devastating. The world will ignore the pain the U.S. citizens will experience. For the majority of people will only remember the bad they perceive the U.S. did to the world, not the good that the U.S. did for the world.
It's fashionable now, even within the U.S., to blame the U.S. for all the world's ills. Those now in control are among the biggest cheerleaders of that anti-American belief, and they are the same ones who made that belief believable with their very own actions to denigrate this nation, convincing the world that the U.S. is evil. Because under their control, the U.S. is trending greatly towards evil, and away from goodness.
I respectfully disagree with your fundamental precepts. Having worked along side and lived next door to many Chinese immigrants over the years, I have come to realize there is no way they will ever best the United States.
What they have now is due to theft of our intellectual property, and their basic skills, while deeply honed, are an inch wide and a mile deep. Within the inch, they are excellent, but outside of that, they are lost.
My Chinese neighbor was amazed that I knew how to operate a chain saw … something every American man prides himself on being able to do. Instead, my neighbor has no option but to call and wait for the man. Meanwhile, I have done the job and moved to the next one.
Such people can never lead; they can only follow.