To add to this point, China also developed their own sovereign internet tech/base. So although the western empire can to an extent try to block China out of participation in the western internet sphere of influence, they can’t block China’s use of the internet within its own sphere of influence and the impact that has for proliferation of internet services among its own people (which is a considerable portion of the world’s population). Even in a scenario of extreme efforts to “contain” China on the internet, China made sure it has sovereign power there. And if the western empire tries very hard to prevent other countries using Chinese technology when it advances beyond that of the western influence, all they do is make it so the rest of the world is increasingly technologically behind while China is doing widespread adoption of more advanced tools among it and its closest allies.
Also one of the advantages of the Internet is that new software can be deployed very very fast. It wasn’t the case in USSR times.
To add to this point, China also developed their own sovereign internet tech/base. So although the western empire can to an extent try to block China out of participation in the western internet sphere of influence, they can’t block China’s use of the internet within its own sphere of influence and the impact that has for proliferation of internet services among its own people (which is a considerable portion of the world’s population). Even in a scenario of extreme efforts to “contain” China on the internet, China made sure it has sovereign power there. And if the western empire tries very hard to prevent other countries using Chinese technology when it advances beyond that of the western influence, all they do is make it so the rest of the world is increasingly technologically behind while China is doing widespread adoption of more advanced tools among it and its closest allies.