The whole notion of "discovering" first a place where there already are people is not absurd.
You discover that this continent exist from your point of view. There were people already living there but they were totally ignorant of where they were living, in fact most of them were in Stone or bronze's age.
"they got printing first, they mastered gunpowder first"
Nobody will tell you this ever(that they got printing first). They will tell you that printing in metal last hundreds of times more than printing in porcelain or wood, and making it possible was a significant contribution that changed the world. How much typography do you see done today in porcelain? I have seen wood printing in China as an an art form, but not as something serious.
Gunpower was mastered by Europe with the invention of gunpower without fumes of course, that is absolutely true. You should try yourself a weapon done with black gunpower to see the difference. It happened in Europe because of the scientific revolution that happened only in Europe because of the Gutenberg press among other things. Not just that but dynamite, TNT...
The reality is that Asia created achievements until XV century, but they remained stagnant for 4 or 5 centuries. This is not something that I say, it is something that any Chinese will tell you.