Michael Wise wrote:

In article ,
(phil hunt) wrote:

The Chinese have essentially become capitalists today. Just like the
Russians
too. They just don't like to admit it much.

Thieving capitalists who invent nothing and simply copy/counterfeit what
the rest of the world creates.

Didn't people use to say that about Japan?

I don't know. If they did, I wasn't one of them.

Yes, they did, in the '50s and early '60s, at least. their products were
generally laughed at in the U.S. as poorly made rubbish, often cheap plastic
toys and the like. But times change.

Japan does not have a history of openly tolerated theft of intellectual
property (media, software, etc.), and I think most of us would agree
Japan has created (as opposed to copied) a number of innovative or
otherwise excellent products (automotive, cellular, consumer
electronics, etc.)

The same cannot be said for China.

Yet, but then it couldn't be said for Japan either for ca. 30 years after WW2.
They started out at the low end, as did e.g. South Korea and Taiwan, and built
up their industrial infrastructure and design abilities until their products
were able to compete on a world stage. I expect China will follow a similar
arc - as it is, chances are pretty good that any plush toy or piece of clothing
you might buy was made in the PRC.

Guy