The US led on nuclear fusion for decades. Now China is in position to win the race

Honestly, I think we're getting really very close! We've been in this cycle of eternally "30 years away". These days we're in a cycle of "5-10 years away". That sounds like a joke, but we really are closing in.

Now that said, while we can eventually get fusion to work, it will absolutely not solve all of our energy problems. Once it's actually possible, it will still be the most expensive source of energy available. Which means once we can do it, we won't actually want to do it.