Some people claim that the United States could cut off China’s internet within minutes because most of the world’s root servers are located in the U.S. However, this view is too simplistic and does not reflect how the internet actually works.
The current distribution of root servers is mainly due to historical reasons. The early internet began as ARPANET, a U.S. defence project, so the first root servers were naturally placed in the United States. By the time the internet expanded globally in the 1990s, the system of 13 root servers was already established, with most located in the U.S. China connected to the internet later and, therefore, did not take part in the initial setup.
Today, the situation is different. The internet is built on a distributed architecture, meaning no single country can easily control or shut it down. Root servers mainly act as the “address book” of the internet. China has installed multiple root mirror servers that copy and synchronize data from the main servers, allowing domain name resolution to continue even if connections to foreign root servers are disrupted.
China has also developed its own domain name system for the .cn top-level domain, supported by many service nodes across the country and around the world. These systems can keep important networks—such as government, financial, and industrial systems—running even if international connections are affected.
In addition, China’s telecom infrastructure includes backup routes and disaster-recovery systems. If one connection fails, traffic can be rerouted through other paths. The country has also invested heavily in new internet technologies like IPv6 to strengthen its network independence.
From an economic perspective, cutting off China would also harm the United States. China is a massive digital market, and many American tech companies rely on it. A shutdown would disrupt global supply chains and cause major losses on both sides.