Deletion of data is the most permanent thing most people will ever do. The burning of the library of Alexandria and the razing of Baghdad left a long, long shadow on history.
Most of the time when I see this snark, and look it up, it turns out that the "original" inventor did only the most basic step or vague foundations and never refined it further or explored any potential applications.
Most often it happens with China since they spend a lot of propganda to present themselves as the true inventor of everything.
you jest but it is wild how often people declare “if it was ‘advanced’ and outside of Europe, it was probably aliens. not the people, it was aliens, obviously.”