Difference is China is willing to embrace technology, AI and robotics. Japan is happy to remain stagnant with their manufacturing prowess and still using fax till this day.

Can see the difference most prominently with cash vs credit, space tech, new nuclear power solutions, have their own ecosystem of software etc.

There are some parallels. But IMHO, there are 2 main differences here:

1) A lot of what happened with Japn-US, was more of a superior-subordinate relationship. Impose tariffs? Yes sir, tariff me more please. That is clearly not happening with China.

2) Japan was replaced by the rise of other "younger" industrialized countries ie South Korea and China. China doesn't really have that problem right now. The closest risk is India, which to be honest, is still a distance away.

China is already colonization Malaysia by opening biz directly in Malaysia