Illustration: Liu Rui/GT

Twenty-eight years ago, Werner Zorn, the founding father of the German Internet, helped Beijing send its first email to the outside world, which said: "Across the Great Wall we can reach every corner in the world."

However, today, China, together with other developing countries, still finds itself trapped in a jungle due to an expanding digital divide and a lack of joint governance.

The divide, a technological gap between developing and developed countries on an international scale, is mainly caused by some Western countries' arrogance and monopoly of information and communication technologies.

For example, the central nervous system of the global Internet with 13 root servers is completely dominated by the West, with 10 root servers located in the US while Britain, Sweden and Japan have one each.

The ever-enlarging gap is detrimental to the stability and sustainable development of the international community, leading to anarchy in cyberspace and to some extent, gradually transforming it into a Hobbesian jungle where the stronger always has a bigger say over the destiny of the smaller.

In addition, the divide has begun to cause side effects like cyber crimes or even cyber terrorism as it accelerates social inequality, which provides fertile ground for extremism.

Like China, the US is also a victim of cyber anarchy and such side effects. The recent shooting rampage in southern California, where two attackers radicalized by fanatical propaganda of the Islamic State (IS) on the Internet opened fire on innocent people, has sent a strong signal to Uncle Sam and its Western allies that they need to share and govern cyberspace with others.

After all, the law of the jungle is relentlessly fair to everyone. In the long run, it neither favors the US for its dominance nor discriminates against the IS for its extremism.

In this sense, the opening of the Second World Internet Conference on Wednesday in China's Wuzhen with the theme of "an interconnected world shared and governed by all - building a community of common future in cyberspace," is a boon to nations worldwide threatened by the law of the jungle.

If they want to get out of the jungle, they should bear three things in mind.

The first is teamwork. Treat each other with respect and equality. The jungle is too enormous for egoism. Selfishness and hegemony worship will only ruin the mission. So the hefty ones like the US should learn to cooperate if they want to defeat common enemies like cyber crimes.

The second is sharing. Don't let the smaller ones be knocked out. Help them grow. Otherwise, they will become accomplices of the jungle.

The Western countries who enjoy early advantages of information technology should loosen their restriction on technology transfers to developing countries.

The third is joint governance. Never seek hegemony in decision-making. There are many paths to leave the jungle and the one you choose may not suit others. The governance of cyberspace needs the participation of all parties and all voices should be heard before a final decision is made.

The author is a writer with the Xinhua News Agency. The article first appeared on Xinhua. opinion@globaltimes.com.cn