The political/military/economic 'war' between the USA and China has already been played out by the US-Russian cold war which ended in the USSR imploding because of external economic pressure.
Despite predictions of China's economic dominance within a decade, China's Achille's heel is the communist veneer on its emerging capitalist economy and IMO, its only a matter of time until, like the USSR, that the system implodes. That's the likely reason that Uncle Sam is firewalling China with anti-land based troop facilities.
Should the Chinese communist superstructure be debunked in the next 5 years, China is likely to have problems in overtaking the USA because of internal conflict and difficulties in instituting a democratic system.
And in relation to China securing resources such as those in Australia, any sign of Chinese conflict conflict with the US would likely see us cutting off supply to China ala 'Pig Iron Bob" and his stopping of pig iron supply to Japan in the 1930s; hence the reason for the token US force in Darwin.
