Whether intentionally or not, this idea that China can’t be better than the US is rooted in eurocentric chauvanism that tries to desparately cling to the idea that Western countries cannot be surpassed morally and materially. There can only be morally good countries or materially prosperous countries, because the US is morally bankrupt but materially wealthy. China shatters the idea that these sins are necessary to preserve this wealth, which sends the “neither Washington nor Beijing” folk into logical pretzels and existential crises.
I touched on it here: