China and Japan compared.

China is a big country with abundant natural resources. It has 1.3 billion people. Japan is a small country with little or no natural resources. China is governed by dictators while Japan is a democratic country.
In China, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Corruptions and abuse of power are rampant. Japan holds election once every few years and the Japanese elect the best candidate to be their prime minister.
The dictators are not very intelligent. Under few decades of authoritative rules, China could not even build a single aircraft carrier while Japan has already many aircraft carriers. The Japanese navy and airforce are so advanced that they keep harrassing Chinese fishing boats while the backward Chinese navy and airforce could only watch helplessly.
As long as China refuses to embrace democracy, it will remain backwards because the intelligent Chinese will migrate to America. The Japanese will continue to be a superpower with the help of Americans and they will continue to possess the islands ( such as the Diao Yu islands) they conquered from the weak China. They may even invade China again because they are eyeing the rare earth of China, a valuable mineral. It is with regret to see that 1.3 billion Chinese got bullied by the Japanese just because corrupt government breeds the corrupt and useless leaders.