Step one: Don't be $26 trillion dollars in debt.
Step two: Woah, woah, woah... have you accomplished step one yet?
Step three: No, seriously. Have you? Because even if we're being optimistic, getting out of debt as a nation will take decades.
Step four: I mean, could you re-read step one? Because currently, every taxpayer currently owes $214,000 or so. Hell, equally among all citizens, we're still talking over $80,000 per person.
Step five: You're still reading this? Get on accomplishing step one before moving on. At the rate we're going, China might not even be an issue by the time we're out of the hole or have enough economic advantage to sway them while in some amount of debt. We might be worried about the trade war with Mars at the time, or China might be trying to pressure us into becoming a western-style capitalist democracy.
So, while we don't necessarily have to get all the way to zero.. there is a way of accomplishing western-style capitalist democracy in China while not fully accomplishing step 1.
Since every dollar that is paid to reduce the debt becomes available to loan, step one will enable advancing toward your final goal in several ways. First, we will be able to compete with China's Belt and Road initiative.
Theirs is predatory, ours just seeks debt reduction, and reduction in Chinese hegemony. .
Second, we will be able to make loans within China, for businesses that make products for Chinese domestic consumption, if they will pay their workers a living wage, so they can buy the fruit of their labor.
Increasing the capitalistic underbelly will weaken the Politburo's power, as night follows day. Let them focus on riding their domestic tiger, they will have less need to expand outward. We will also ensure that they have ample trade routes, without that hegemony. In these ways, we can accomplish step one while furthering our final goal.