Take a look at an empty city in China:
And take a look at an empty city in the US:
There seems to be a qualitative difference here. Sure you do not want empty cities. But there is a difference between plowing money into building something useless, and between plowing into the ground a once great city. The first means you stand still, the second means you regress.
I am not an expert but so far I have not seen anyone show that imbalances in China are anywhere near as severe as they were in the US.
I think there might be some projection at work. Like Russian academics are always seeing signs that the US is going to break apart any time now, the American economists could also be in a similar manner developing a habit where they are always seeing signs that China is heading for economic ruination just about now.