I was reading up on IP ownership and protection in China, and on paper they make it seem it’s working, but it’s an opaque process where outsiders don’t get a view of the court process and litigation of offenders.

For example, there are a huge amount of patents filed in China. The caveat? The vast majority of the patents filed in China are low quality, made in bad faith (subsidy for patent application greater than fee), not put into use. The push from the Chinese government to have foreign businesses re-file their patents in China, promising protection, seems to me like inviting foxes into a hen house. Do you really trust the Chinese gov’t to honor their word and not straight up steal your IP and tech, after decades of corporate espionage aided and abetted by their government?

It’s a part of a very twisted mentality towards outsiders. We’re barbarians and not Chinese so it’s absolutely fair for them to cheat foreigners. Moreover the cheating is baked in since childhood because winning is everything and the method to get there doesn’t matter. They even expect to be cheated if they don’t cheat first because of how fucked up socioeconomic conditions are, “honor” (the Chinese way, otherwise known as ‘Face’), and how competitive it can be.

We absolutely are NOT playing the same game with them.