The other thing to look at is the number of high impact papers in Materials Science, Chemistry, Engineering, Comp Sci and Physics and look at where they are being written. Check the image from The Economist in the article below :
https://asiatimes.com/2025/03/behold-chinas-innovative-golde...
It's great for the world that China now has hundreds of millions of people who are able to have much better lives and tens of millions who are making great contributions to the world.
China has done what the US did in copying Europe 150 years ago. The US copied Europe and then went further. China is now doing that.
If fusion is successfully done in China rather than the US it will still be great for people in the US. The US can copy it.
The only thing is that the US's dominance is ending.
If following the pattern it will also be invented in the West and optimized in China.
Once again optimizing on technologies invented in the west.
Also in places where Chinese electric cars are not being blocked they are really taking off. In 20 years for billions of people the most common car will be a Chinese one.
China is able to build nuclear reactors while the US is floundering.
The Chinese may well be the first to produce electricity from fusion.
People come back from Shenzhen now to the US and say that the US now feels less advanced.
The US certainly leads in some areas. But not longer all areas and things are moving toward China.