[HowardMei]

There're a lot of valuable points in this topic's comments.

I'd like to add one more which has been ignored: the GFW/Golden Shield was built to uphold the central government's authority over other provinces.

One-to-many propaganda is the most important leverage for Beijing to suppress provincial rivals.

And I assert the same propaganda leverage applys to the relationship between Washington D.C./Newyork and other states in the U.S. as well as the relationship between the U.S. and its allies.

Censoring/manipulating the internet is not merely for silencing individuals.