The problem is confusing the collapse of the Western civilization and civilization per se. China is very happy to pick up the pieces. In spite of their cultural weaknesses, on this point they do teach and learn how to do everything from scratch.
The West as a dominant civilization is absolutely collapsing. It's just a matter of how long will it take. I hope China learns from our mistakes and has the will to fix their cultural shortcomings.
But is it though? Because it's has been claimed for many many years that the west if falling (at least from 2008 on-wards) and yet - more people speak English than ever before, American culture (at least anecdotally) is more ever present and American tech corporations are 8 out of 10 most valuable companies in the world.
I guess that people always feel that the end is nigh.
Latin was used for centuries after the Roman empire was gone.
The West is de-industrializing very fast. And a good chunk of the services side is switching to India and other cheaper countries and AI. The West is in its last legs. The final nails in the coffin will be when China achieves good enough but at cheap prices: 1) chips (5-10 years away) and 2) aerospace (8-12 years away?). China is investing heavily on these and acquiring the knowledge (wink-wink).
The West as a dominant civilization is absolutely collapsing. It's just a matter of how long will it take. I hope China learns from our mistakes and has the will to fix their cultural shortcomings.