Of course, that does apply, irrespective of country...
But on topic, the "fact" that the Zero and other Japanese aircraft "had" to have relied on foreign tech is one of those myths that won't die, like P-51 Mustang designer Ed Schmued being German and worked in the German aero industry (he was Austrian, actually, and was a US citizen years before German rearmament), that the P-51H was "weaker" structurally than earlier versions (not true, except maybe for landing gear), and that the P-40 was total junk (restricted in terms of age of design and high altitude engine performance, but was actually one of the most maneuverable fighters of World War II, just later on didn't have the speed and climb for the most part to go with it).
Yes, Japan did benefit on western technology as far as engine development (even later engines were built using lessons learned from such licensed production), but one, Japan wasn't alone in that, and two, their actual airframes were original designs suited to their requirements of the time. These guys (the designers and engineers) weren't dummies, and only when they ran into engine tech limitations did Japan fall behind markedly. Of course, Germany ended up having the same problems, for many of the same reasons.