After thinking about it for a while, not having any special knowledge, but being in the tech field, I feel like this is the most likely scenario.
In the States, where can you find old stuff from the 90s anymore? That was before I was using the internet heavily, but things like GeoCities and other meta websites have gone down or basically only exist in archives now.
I realize that the article never said that China is purposefully pulling these websites down just that they seem to be disappearing. This is conspiracy theory code for we're just asking questions. But if I had heard an American say, hey, why are these old 90s websites coming down? Isn't that suspicious? Isn't our government being totalitarian? I would definitely just say no, that's just how the internet really works, Things come down, nothing lasts forever.
If suburbanites in California are painting their grass green for their HOA's, does that count as being part of the conspiracy theory?
California is communist theory confirmed!