THE US CHINA LAG WAS CLOSED BY THE LIKES OF MICHAEL PILLSBURY IN HIS LONG CAREER

We lagged ahead of the likes of China, and worked hard for much of the 20th Century to "close the lag".

Read his book. The Hundred Year Marathon
Is this one of the many books Liberace claims he read.
Bullshit. 
Liberace gets a lackey to squibb a one page summary, which he then does not read. Trust me.