At the present time, which nation do you feel is stronger in terms of combined economic and military power: the US, or China?

United States (35%) — "The United States has the worlds largest, best equipped Navy and Air Force. Chinas military is improving with new ships for the Navy. China has more military personnel than the United States but most are ill trained and ill equipped although China is making improvements. Russia has expended much of their military trying to defeat Ukraine."

• "The US still has the edge, but it's fading fast and has been for the last 20 years. China has set and executed a long term plan; they are now a world superpower after a truly meteoric rise, with a rapidly strengthening military focused on what they believe to be their region of the world, and their progress, while slowed due to their economic uncertainty right now, shows no signs of stopping. The US, in contrast, has bet the economy on AI to an exclusive extent, has given away manufacturing and industrial skills, and is pulled in a hundred different directions on where to spend military capital. China will pass us in the next 5 to 7 years, if not sooner."

"I feel that the United States has the power but this is actually a loaded question. We are by far the greatest economic power and we also have a wealth of resources, including rare earths, many of which we don't deploy as processing (rare earth processing, cutting down forests, burning coal without restraint like China, etc) indiscriminately could affect quality of life. Our military is also experienced and adequate though it could be much better. Another advantage is that our people actually believe in freedom and have personal liberty, a strong motivator to excel on a personal/national level. One reason this question is 'loaded' is that the despotic communist nations could care less about life or it's quality as long as the leadership, controllers, can stay in power (hear that socialists?). People like this are much more likely to use devastating weapons like 'nukes', biologics and chemicals (WMD's) than the United States is, especially in quantity, if they think they can 'win' by doing so."

China (46%) – "China is living in the future the US was sold we'd be living. Their economy is doing well and the Yuan is growing in global utilization. The technological advances coming out of over there are ground breaking and are leaving us in the dark literally. The military isn't as bloated as ours. They have the military to protect their boarders, spy on other countries, and have high-tech weapons I'm sure we can't imagine. The US is getting worse every day economically and the military is being used in ways I'm glad we were never used while I was in. The future in the US looks uncertain and for most people this is uncharted waters."

• "The Chinese military has remained stable and constant in their core mission, while the U.S. military has become chaotic in leadership and confused in its mission. While the Chinese military has always been a part of the Communist party ideology, the American military has not. This appears to be changing for the American military, as it would appear the American military is being pushed to yield control of itself to political ideology. From my viewpoint, the American military is becoming atrophied by its leadership and the whims of our elected officials. Bewildering to me, is why do we set the bar so low, that we might as well place it on the ground."

"The US has weakened dramatically this year, with a loss of economic and soft power thanks to erratic policies and withdrawal of international aid programs, wild tariffs, and causing long time friend countries to question our commitment to long standing alliances. Meanwhile, our military is being gutted with the ridiculous "anti-woke" obsession to create a hollow air of "lethality" thanks to Hegseth's incompetent leadership while being prepared to be illegally unleashed against our own people. We are a country in disarray. We're also playing catch up because our military is designed for the last war instead of the drone filled one of today."

• "Leadership has failed for years to react to China's growing power even though they've been warned about it the entire time."

Unsure/other (19%) – "It is difficult to say which is more powerful, as they have different specializations. China's economy produces materials and goods, while the US has agriculture, service, and engineering. On the military front, the US military could be considered to have more experience and better tactical organization, not to mention allies. China, however, has been supposedly upgrading its arsenal, and routinely conducts military tests. Thus, China could have as much or more power than the US, but that remains to be seen. The US is very capable regardless, so I would wager that ultimately the US still comes out on top."

• "From an economic front, China's government controls the message and statistics. All governments like to show the best possible stats - which is why even the US stats need revisions. Stats of these kinds can be actually without modification - yet they tend to have a predictive flavor added. Hard to trust either but I think the US economic stats are better. On military, the US has failed to invest in advanced research - hypersonic missiles as an example. Now China is making advances in AI and quantum. That's a neck and neck race. We have a ways to go to get to the finish line. The country there first wins more than just the race - maybe the world."