This week Chinese President Xi Jinping oversaw a huge celebration of that moment - PRC's 70th birthday, highlighting tens of thousands of performers and troops, hundreds of tanks, planes and other military vehicles and even, it seems, a new nuclear weapon that can reach any place on the planet.  China is a country that rose from poverty, war, and external subjugation to become the world's second-largest economy, a leading force in science and technology, and a strong contender for 21st century superpower status - mostly likely getting ahead of the US.