Saudi Press

Saudi Arabia and the world
Monday, Sep 29, 2025

How China-US rivalry is dividing the internet

When Hyunjin Seo visited Beijing in July last year, she scrolled through Google News on her smartphone and discovered several reports about an attack on the city's US embassy.

An associate professor at the University of Kansas's journalism department, she bypassed China's strict digital media censors thanks to the roaming plan of her US phone firm. This allowed her to access websites such as those from Google not available in China.

"I was telling my Chinese friends about the bomb detonating outside the [US] embassy and they didn't know what I was talking about, because this news wasn't appearing in their search feeds," recalls Prof Seo, who teaches courses on digital media.

Rivals is a season of in-depth coverage on BBC News about the contest for supremacy between the US and China across trade, tech, defence and soft power.

Her experience is common for any westerner visiting China.

The internet in the world's most populous country is heavily restricted and censored, leading experts to speculate that in the future there could be two distinct internets - one led by China and one by the US.

The point was made last year by former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt.

At a private event, when an economist asked Mr Schmidt (now a board member of Google parent company Alphabet) about the potential of the internet fragmenting into different sub-internets with different regulations, he replied, "I think the most likely scenario now is not a splintering, but rather a bifurcation into a Chinese-led internet and a non-Chinese internet led by America."

Such a divide is already in place, due to the Great Firewall of China, a government-sponsored programme that censors content within its digital borders. Chinese users can't access Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox or Pinterest, among other popular sites.

They also can't read online information on the Tiananmen Square massacre or criticism aimed at President Xi Jinping. Even online images of Winnie the Pooh have been banned in China after protesters compared President Xi's face to the classic Disney character.

"In one of the biggest markets in the world, tech companies are leaving because they can't fully operate how they want to, by freely sharing information online," notes Ms Seo.

Such censorship means overseas businesses are hampered if they want to expand into China - one of the most attractive markets in the world.

No matter the size of the company, to operate in China overseas firms have to jump through hoops that can cause them problems.

While Apple services and products are available in China, the California-based tech giant has sparked controversy over its activities in the Chinese market. In 2017, China asked Apple to remove the New York Times and Skype app from its App Store. Apple complied.

Google has also waded into Chinese waters, only to be met with intense criticism. Most notably, Google secretly worked on a version of its search engine to go up against Chinese-born Baidu.

The Chinese-only Google would censor some results relating to human rights violations and controversial laws. "Project Dragonfly" was uncovered in a 2018 article by The Intercept, and Google eventually scrapped the project.

"When you enter search terms in China on their search engine, you get a different result from what you see in the West," says Sarah Cook, senior China research analyst at Freedom House, a US independent watchdog focusing on human rights. "The red lines of what is being censored are constantly moving."

2019 marks the fourth year in a row that Freedom House has ranked China at the bottom for Internet freedom in its annual report "Freedom on the Net".

A business looking to enter China has to either play by the rules or leave. For example, LinkedIn doesn't allow Chinese users to access politically sensitive profiles or posts from people outside the country.

Why such restrictions on a tool specifically designed to open up digital realms of information, media and debate?

"That censorship relates to the legitimacy of the Chinese Communist Party and promoting an official narrative about the nation-state," says Renren Yang, an assistant professor of modern Chinese popular culture at the University of British Columbia.

While Chinese internet users can't use Google and WhatsApp, they have Chinese equivalents, Baidu and WeChat.

Meanwhile, Amazon shut down its online store in China earlier this year in the face of poor sales trying to compete against Alibaba.

Isn't China already crafting its own parallel internet?

"An isolated Chinese internet is cut off from the rest of the world," says Ms Cook. "And what is worrying is that other countries are copying what China is doing by blocking access to certain sites or slowing down net service during protests or rallies."

Prof Yang says it would only benefit China to usher in more Western companies seeking to bring its services to the country. "For example, competition with Chinese local telecom companies will spawn the invention of new technologies and new services that people can afford and utilize. Competition brings forth innovation."

Prof Seo isn't optimistic China will change its online tune anytime soon. "Since China has replaced Western media with their own apps and sites, they don't really need western tech companies."

Other experts are hopeful that a splintering of the Internet won't be permanent.

Prof Yang says: "One day, I'd like to see the Great Firewall come down, just like the Berlin Wall did."

Newsletter

Related Articles

Saudi Press
0:00
0:00
Close
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
UK, Canada, and Australia Officially Recognise Palestine in Historic Shift
New Eye Drops Show Promise in Replacing Reading Glasses for Presbyopia
Dubai Property Boom Shows Strain as Flippers Get Buyer’s Remorse
Top AI Researchers Are Heading Back to China as U.S. Struggles to Keep Pace
JWST Data Brings TRAPPIST-1e Closer to Earth-Like Habitability
UAE-US Stargate Project Poised to Make Abu Dhabi a Global AI Powerhouse
Trump and Starmer Clash Over UK Recognition of Palestinian State Amid State Visit
Saudi Arabia cracks down on music ‘lounges’ after conservative backlash
Saudi Arabia Signs ‘Strategic Mutual Defence’ Pact with Pakistan, Marking First Arab State to Gain Indirect Access to Nuclear Strike Capabilities in the Region
Sam Altman sells the 'Wedding Estate' in Hawaii for 49 million dollars
Turkish car manufacturer Togg Enters German Market with 5-Star Electric Sedan and SUV to Challenge European EV Brands
World’s Longest Direct Flight China Eastern to Launch 29-Hour Shanghai–Buenos Aires Direct Flight via Auckland in December
New OpenAI Study Finds Majority of ChatGPT Use Is Personal, Not Professional
Kuwait opens bidding for construction of three cities to ease housing crunch.
This Week in AI: Meta’s Superintelligence Push, xAI’s Ten Billion-Dollar Raise, Genesis AI’s Robotics Ambitions, Microsoft Restructuring, Amazon’s Million-Robot Milestone, and Google’s AlphaGenome Update
Indian Student Engineers Propose “Project REBIRTH” to Protect Aircraft from Crashes Using AI, Airbags and Smart Materials
Could AI Nursing Robots Help Healthcare Staffing Shortages?
Turkish authorities seize leading broadcaster amid fraud and tax investigation
Qatari prime minister says Netanyahu ‘killed any hope’ for Israeli hostages
Apple Introduces Ultra-Thin iPhone Air, Enhanced 17 Series and New Health-Focused Wearables
Big Oil Slashes Jobs and Investments Amid Prolonged Low Crude Prices
Social Media Access Curtailed in Turkey After CHP Calls for Rallies Following Police Blockade of Istanbul Headquarters
Did the Houthis disrupt the internet in the Middle East? Submarine cables cut in the Red Sea
Gold Could Reach Nearly $5,000 if Fed Independence Is Undermined, Goldman Sachs Warns
Uruguay, Colombia and Paraguay Secure Places at 2026 World Cup
Trump Administration Advances Plans to Rebrand Pentagon as Department of War Instead of the Fake Term Department of Defense
Tether Expands into Gold Sector with Profit-Driven Diversification
Trump’s New War – and the ‘Drug Tyrant’ Fearing Invasion: ‘1,200 Missiles Aimed at Us’
At the Parade in China: Laser Weapons, 'Eagle Strike,' and a Missile Capable of 'Striking Anywhere in the World'
Information Warfare in the Age of AI: How Language Models Become Targets and Tools
Israeli Airstrike in Yemen Kills Houthi Prime Minister
After the Shock of Defeat, Iranians Yearn for Change
YouTube Altered Content by Artificial Intelligence – Without Permission
Iran Faces Escalating Water Crisis as Protests Spread
More Than Half a Million Evacuated as Typhoon Kajiki Heads for Vietnam
HSBC Switzerland Ends Relationships with Over 1,000 Clients from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar, and Egypt
Sharia Law Made Legally Binding in Austria Despite Warnings Over 'Incompatible' Values
Dogfights in the Skies: Airbus on Track to Overtake Boeing and Claim Aviation Supremacy
Tim Cook Promises an AI Revolution at Apple: "One of the Most Significant Technologies of Our Generation"
Are AI Data Centres the Infrastructure of the Future or the Next Crisis?
Miles Worth Billions: How Airlines Generate Huge Profits
Zelenskyy Returns to White House Flanked by European Allies as Trump Pressures Land-Swap Deal with Putin
Beijing is moving into gold and other assets, diversifying away from the dollar
Cristiano Ronaldo Makes Surprise Stop at New Hong Kong Museum
Zelenskyy to Visit Washington after Trump–Putin Summit Yields No Agreement
High-Stakes Trump-Putin Summit on Ukraine Underway in Alaska
Iranian Protection Offers Chinese Vehicle Shipments a Cost Advantage over Japanese and Korean Makers
Saudi Arabia accelerates renewables to curb domestic oil use
×