For what it's worth, I think people were able to reverse-engineer deviations between China's scheme and Google Maps' own scheme because Google's online services

For what it's worth, I think people were able to reverse-engineer deviations between China's scheme and Google Maps' own scheme because Google's online services un/intentionally provided information about those deviations – which its Chinese provider somehow gave to Google – which people then scraped. [1] What that says about China's strategy of relying on indigenous mapping partners is up to you to decide. [1] https://wuyongzheng.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/china-map-deviation-as-a-regression-problem/ https://wuyongzheng.wordpress.com/2010/01/22/china-map-devia....