China IP theft is not a unique threat
Huang ‘19 [Yukon; Jeremy Smith; October 16; senior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; junior fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Foreign Policy; “China’s Record on Intellectual Property Rights Is Getting Better and Better”; https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/10/16/china-intellectual-property-theft-progress/]
In terms of outright theft of IP, China’s infractions are anything but unique: It is just one of 36 violators listed in the 2019 Special 301 Report by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). Historically, rapidly growing emerging market economies tend to be cited as they transition to higher income levels. For example, decades ago Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan were each perennial Section 301 violators until they reached a per capita GDP of about $20,000-$25,000. Many countries have followed this blueprint, but China draws special attention because of its size and its top-down, state-led model.
It is in society’s interest to support the broad dissemination of knowledge, but the creation of knowledge requires incentives to innovate. When determining appropriate rules for IP, governments have to keep in mind that protections simultaneously spur creativity and inhibit the flow of knowledge. To find the right tradeoff, they must take stock of their country’s innovative capacity, consider international norms and standards, weigh wide access to knowledge against incentives to invent, and seek common ground between the short-run interests of firms and the long-run interests of society as a whole. As a country evolves from a net acquirer of IP to a net innovator, its calculations change, and strong protections are more attractive.