Having achieved military hegemony in 1945, they had strategic options as to how to exploit that in the post-war world. But they weren't going to fritter away their advantage either. But in the economic realm, they had more subtle designs for their new world order than an unwieldy U.S.-centric trading empire. Yup, US nuclear power really has the Chinese quaking in their boots. I'd also love to know why the US is organizing South Central Asia the way it is.
China is indeed a singular case.
In this regard, I think the case of Iraq and the Desert Storm are relevant. The reality of U.S. hegemony over Iraq was proven to the world by force, even if Saddham continues to live in a fantasy world. When a country's behavior crosses some unspecified line, in terms of acceptability to the U.S., then the reality of the hegemony comes under test. The U.S. has diplomatic, propagandistic, and economic leverage which it can bring to bear in this regard. An new test of U.S. hegemony is now coming to the fore in the cases of Iran and Libya.