Padilla said many pundits believe China will overtake the U.S. economy, much as they once had predicted for Japan and Europe. "But, ladies and gentlemen, one way to reliably lose money is to bet against America's success, and I do not believe that China's economy will inevitably overtake our own," he said.

The reason, he said, is America's economic openness, which "gives us a leg up in the global economy. We are stronger as a nation, because we welcome the world's products, ideas, investment and people."

Howard, meanwhile, said many people take the wrong view of China and its 1.3 billion inhabitants. "There are too many people, including in the United States, who see China's emergence as a threat and not as an opportunity," he said. "It is an enormous opportunity. It is a huge market."

A self-proclaimed optimist, Howard said he hopes someday that China will be as free as the U.S. and Australia. While he was prime minister, Howard began a process that could result in a free-trade agreement between Australia and China.

"I hold the view that there is an eventual tension between economic openness and political restriction, that ultimately the two just don't mix. And eventually economic liberalism will cry out loud for a matching political openness, particularly in a world of instant communications," he said. "You can't go on aggressively monitoring the Internet forever."

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E-mail: bwallace@desnews.com