The statement "China take control of every piece of technology connected to the internet" is an overstatement. While China has indeed become a dominant force in many critical aspects of the global technology supply chain and internet infrastructure, it does not control every piece.

However, the premise that "greed is good" and allowed this to happen has some truth to it, alongside other significant factors.

Why and How China Gained Influence:

It's not a single, monolithic "takeover," but rather a complex interplay of economic strategy, technological development, and global market dynamics over decades.

1. Manufacturing Prowess and Cost Efficiency ("Greed is Good"):

   • Cost Advantage: For decades, China offered unparalleled advantages in manufacturing due to a vast, skilled, and relatively low-cost labor force, combined with a willingness to invest heavily in infrastructure (factories, ports, logistics).

   • Supply Chain Ecosystem: Western companies, driven by profit motives and the desire for lower production costs, eagerly outsourced manufacturing to China. This led to the development of incredibly sophisticated and efficient supply chain ecosystems within China for everything from consumer electronics to automotive components. It became incredibly difficult, and expensive, to replicate this outside of China.

   • Scale and Speed: China's ability to produce at massive scale and with rapid iteration cycles was a huge draw for global companies. If you wanted to quickly produce millions of smartphones or laptops, China was often the only viable option.

2. Strategic Government Investment and Industrial Policy:

   • Long-Term Vision: The Chinese government has had a clear, long-term national strategy to become a global leader in technology and innovation. This isn't just about manufacturing; it's about R&D, intellectual property, and cutting-edge industries.

   • Subsidies and Support: State-owned enterprises and strategically important private companies received significant government subsidies, preferential loans, and other support to develop and dominate key technological sectors (e.g., telecommunications equipment, solar PV, electric vehicle batteries).

   • Technology Transfer (Forced and Voluntary): Early foreign investment in China often involved technology transfer agreements, sometimes explicitly requiring foreign companies to share technology with Chinese partners as a condition of market access. Many Western companies agreed to this for market access.

   • Talent Development: Massive investment in STEM education and research has created a large pool of highly educated engineers and scientists.

3. Domestic Market Size and Growth:

   • Huge Consumer Base: China has the world's largest internet-connected population and a rapidly growing middle class. This immense domestic market provided a fertile ground for Chinese tech companies to grow, innovate, and scale before expanding globally.

   • Digital Innovation: Chinese companies like Tencent, Alibaba, and Huawei pioneered innovative digital services (e.g., WeChat's super-app model, mobile payments) adapted to their vast market, which then gave them an edge in other developing markets.

4. Influence on Internet Infrastructure:

   • Telecommunications Equipment: Companies like Huawei and ZTE became global leaders in telecommunications equipment (5G, fiber optics) by offering competitive pricing and advanced technology. Many developing countries, and even some developed ones, adopted their equipment for building out their national internet infrastructure.

   • Submarine Cables: Chinese companies are increasingly involved in the construction and financing of submarine internet cables, which are the physical backbone of global internet connectivity.

   • Data Centers: China has built some of the world's largest data centers and is investing heavily in cloud infrastructure.

   • Standard Setting: China is actively pushing for its vision of internet governance and technological standards within international bodies, often advocating for a state-centric model of control over the internet, in contrast to the multi-stakeholder model favored by many Western countries.

Why the "World Let It Happen":

The "greed is good" argument highlights a significant part of it, but it's more nuanced:

• Economic Liberalism and Globalization: For decades, the prevailing global economic philosophy was that free trade and global supply chains would lead to greater efficiency and prosperity for all. Companies pursued profit maximization, and governments largely supported this.

• Underestimation of Geopolitical Risk: Many in the West initially underestimated the geopolitical implications of China's rise and the potential for a technologically intertwined but ideologically divergent system. The focus was on economic benefits.

• Short-Term vs. Long-Term Thinking: Businesses often prioritized short-term cost savings and market access over long-term strategic vulnerabilities.

• Lack of Alternatives: In many cases, especially for high-volume, low-cost electronics manufacturing, there simply weren't comparable alternatives to China's capabilities at the scale and price points demanded by the global market.

• Delayed Awareness of Security Concerns: Concerns about the security implications of Chinese technology (e.g., potential backdoors in Huawei equipment) only became widespread and actively addressed relatively recently, after significant market penetration had already occurred.

• Internal Political Divisions: Even within Western countries, there were differing views and political divisions on how to approach China, making a unified, coherent strategy challenging.

Current Landscape and Recalibration:

The situation is now very different. There is a strong global push, particularly from the US and its allies, to "de-risk" or "decouple" from China in critical technology sectors. This involves:

• Supply Chain Diversification: Encouraging companies to move manufacturing to other countries ("China-plus-one" strategies, "friend-shoring," "reshoring").

• Restrictions on Technology Transfers: Implementing export controls on advanced semiconductors and related manufacturing equipment to China.

• Banning Certain Technologies: Prohibiting the use of Chinese telecom equipment (like Huawei and ZTE) in critical national infrastructure due to security concerns.

• Investing in Domestic Production: Governments are investing heavily to boost domestic manufacturing capabilities in strategic sectors (e.g., chip fabrication in the US and Europe).

So, while China has achieved a highly influential position in the global tech landscape, it's more accurate to say it has become a central, often dominant, node in the global technology supply chain and a significant player in internet infrastructure development, rather than controlling "every piece." The world is now actively working to recalibrate this influence, driven by national security concerns and a recognition of the geopolitical implications of technological reliance.