You listed a few historical considerations and current benefits. In a few posts here in the last few weeks on GFW, I already said that it served some purposes. I have never said or argued it was not useful or important or insightful. So just to clarify the context.
What I have been saying, actually since the Covid breakout, is that China today is no longer the China during the formative years of the Internet revolution. China today is already ahead of US in some aspects of the Internet eco-system. So early benefits and low hanging fruits have already been harvested. But those downside effects are still there, since the day one. In other words, the cost-benefit calculation has been altered significantly, in comparison to those formative years.
Just to clarify:
(1) Would Alibaba have become what it is today without GFW? No.
(2) Would Tencent have become what it is today without GFW? No.
(3) Would ByteDance have become so big so quickly without GFW? No.
My arguments here were in the context of the entire Internet eco-system from about 2000 to this date. During that time, opposite to the benefits sides, there are new bureaucracies and entrenched interests developed within the Chinese Internet eco-system who are against any opening, not for the original gov purposes, but just to protect their own interests that 20 years of GFW has brought to them. I say all these because I know at a personal level, not propaganda craps or idealogical leanings, about China Internet eco-system.
I hope I can clarify a little here. And I am not interested in any pissing contest, especially not against to those who really don't know the Chinese Internet eco-system. And as I said earlier to another poster, this is indeed literally a trillion dollar topic inside China.
So go figure...
As far as Internet security and data protection (like GDPR or else) is concerned, I don't want to brag, but there are not even many people in the US that can hold my water, like a patient arguing with a doctor about how wrong he/she is.
