Reference News Network August 21 report, Spain's "Insurgent Newspaper" website on August 17 published an article titled "Open Source and Western Technological Hegemony", author Pedro Balagán. The full text is as follows:

This technological war is part of the U.S. global strategy to contain China and prevent it from surpassing the United States to become the leading economic power in the world. This "war", which began with trade disputes, gradually evolved into the U.S. attempt to systematically weaken key areas of China's economy and curb its growth.

Technology is the main battlefield of this conflict, because it determines economic, military, and geopolitical power in the 21st century. In this context, leadership in areas such as artificial intelligence, semiconductors, quantum computing, 5G networks, and biotechnology is not only a matter of innovation, but also the basis for the United States to implement global control. Faced with this pressure, China has adopted open source as a strategic tool to reduce its dependence on Western technology models.

Since 2018, Washington has continuously intensified its offensive against Beijing. Under Trump's first term, the United States imposed sanctions on key companies such as Huawei, ZTE, and SMIC, citing national security. After Biden took office, the U.S. government's restrictions did not ease, but instead expanded further. Now, with Trump back in power, China is prevented from accessing and adopting advanced chips made with American technology, and Chinese companies are excluded from important global platforms.

The U.S. goal is clear: to maintain global technological leadership, contain China's rise, and consolidate its dominance over critical infrastructure. However, this blockade policy has produced unexpected results. On one hand, it has prompted China to accelerate its efforts to achieve technological self-reliance; on the other hand, it has exacerbated the fragmentation of the global digital ecosystem, resulting in parallel standards, redundant supply chains, and increasingly isolated technical camps.

Facing encirclement, Beijing has developed a set of countermeasures combining large-scale investment, national planning, and technological openness. "Made in China 2025" is just one of them. Over the past five years, China has increased R&D spending, established dozens of public investment funds, and encouraged the creation of startups in strategic areas. However, the most notable is its systematic investment in the development of open-source technologies. Its achievements are now becoming tools for countries in the Global South to maintain national sovereignty.

Such examples abound. Huawei has transformed its HarmonyOS operating system into OpenHarmony, an open-source platform. This move not only circumvents sanctions but also opens up infrastructure to developers both inside and outside China. Another example is Deepin, a Linux operating system completely developed in China, with a modern interface adapted to the local market.

Artificial intelligence is another area where China uses open tools to build independence. The recently launched DeepSeek large language model can rival OpenAI and Google in performance, but its open-source nature and free access have led to widespread use in academic and professional fields.

From major indicators, the initial impact of the new technology and trade war initiated by Trump has already been seen in the global economy. The U.S. economy is slowing down, with GDP falling by 0.3% in the first quarter of 2025, while China achieved a 5.4% economic growth. In international trade, exports in April grew by 9.3%, indicating that China has achieved product export diversification and reduced the impact of U.S. tariffs. Although exports to the U.S. have declined, this impact has been offset by other markets.

Globally, we are witnessing increasing technological polarization. The devices, applications, and platforms used in China are no longer the same as those in the West. In areas where Google, Microsoft, or NVIDIA once dominated, Baidu, Huawei, and other open Chinese platforms are now thriving. It's not just about economic dominance, but also about how technology is built and distributed globally.

Choosing open source is not trivial. China has realized that access to shared technological knowledge constitutes a strategic advantage. This enhances its ability to withstand sanctions, attracts developers from other countries, and provides a reliable alternative to U.S. digital hegemony. Therefore, open source is becoming a way to close the door on Silicon Valley's absolute dominance.

In this new context, the U.S. faces the risk of locking itself into a closed, exclusive, and increasingly uncompetitive model.

China's innovation continues to advance under the push of millions of developers and coherent national policies, while the United States, once the leader of the digital revolution, seems to be losing its edge.

The technological war is not just about sanctions or cutting-edge equipment, but also about code repositories, free licenses, open architectures, and the ability to establish global technology alliances. And in this regard, China is taking action with a forward-looking perspective. (Translated by Wang Meng)

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7540919915318903346/

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