My guess is that the "West" has been king of the high-tech hill for so long that even for those of us who aren't blinkered and blinded by Western-centrism/Weste

My guess is that the "West" has been king of the high-tech hill for so long that even for those of us who aren't blinkered and blinded by Western-centrism/Western-chauvinism (or tbh just plain parochialism or tribalism) it is difficult to imagine a multi-polar high-tech world. Japan, Taiwan, and South Korea are integrated into the Western world and, dare I say, feel Western in their outlook/orientation: capitalist, liberal, parliamentary democracies with free and fair elections fwiw. But, clearly, one cannot say the same about mainland China in the last instance. And because m. China has historically been self-reliant, has a massive population (equal to the US, Europe, Japan, Taiwan, and S. Korea combined, surely), has a history of innovation and trade, etc. … the so-called "West" sees itself at an impasse. Fun times.