I'm not sure how you've come to this belief that there isn't a population of creative, technical problem-solvers in China. I'm very much certain of the opposit

I'm not sure how you've come to this belief that there isn't a population of creative, technical problem-solvers in China. I'm very much certain of the opposite. China is a large nation with a super-size talent pool drawn from a monster labour force, with a strong cultural heritage and long history of state provided education opportunities. The US isn't some sort of exception here. If anything, it wastes much of it's population by asking poor people to jump through a series of hoops before they can even contemplate higher education. Edit: I think I should add, this kind of naivete is what caught the western world by surprise in the WWII in the Pacific. I'm sourcing my 'facts' from Dan Carlin here, but essentially the British command in Singapore, as well as the US, vastly underestimated the ingenuity of the Japanese, claiming them to be great at imitation, but not at innovation, and generally a disorganised and an underwhelming military opponent. This thinking led to Pearl Harbour, the dramatic taking of Singapore and the sinking of some very expensive battleships. Their air forces quickly overwhelmed and outclassed by the technically superior Japanese planes, handled with precision by well-trained pilots, and directed with strategy bold and unseen by even well-tested veterans who had seen action in Europe. Large scale military defeats down to foolish racial stereo-typing from the top down. I'd say the US should watch it's six.