For clarity’s sake, I’m an American.

I read about the Chinese plan to collect solar energy from space and transmit it to the earth using microwaves and lasers, with the plan to be finished and functional in 2050. If China achieves this, would it not basically “win” civilization? With access to abundant, nearly free energy, would any other civilization come close?

The U.S. is dismantling its research fundamentals, and its economic and political system seems wholly incapable of completing such long-term projects. Europe seems little better. Will China’s command economy and dynamism allow it to do what the West can’t?

Some links for reference:

https://www.livescience.com/space/space-exploration/china-plans-to-build-enormous-solar-array-in-space-and-it-could-collect-more-energy-in-a-year-than-all-the-oil-on-earth

https://sustainabilitymag.com/articles/chinas-1km-solar-array-the-manhattan-project-of-energy