<story><title>China Steps Up Trade Secret Theft from US Companies</title><url>http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-china-economic-espionage-20181116-story.html?id=1231</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>shantanubala</author><text>This might be an unpopular opinion, but I&amp;#x27;ll express a counterpoint - viewing the same situation through a different lens.&lt;p&gt;Put simply, the Chinese understand why American companies outsource their labor to China. Chinese labor is cheaper, and they are under no illusions - this outsourcing means that their own country experiences many of the negative externalities of Western consumption, including pollution.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s fair for American businesses to distrust Chinese companies and distrust the Chinese government, but can&amp;#x27;t we all agree that they brought it on themselves?&lt;p&gt;Which multinational corporation reasonably expects that the Chinese government cares about their bottom line at all? And why do many ordinary Americans experience such outrage on behalf of these multinationals? Of course, I understand why their shareholders (and thus, many Americans) may be upset.&lt;p&gt;If anything, I&amp;#x27;m angry they jumped at the opportunity to eradicate their domestic workforce to a point where China has the opportunity to steal in the first place.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>ctvo</author><text>You are conflating two things in this reply:&lt;p&gt;There’s the official transfer of technology that happens in some circumstances when a western company wishes to do business in China, that is known and each company makes its own decisions on if this short term trade off is worthwhile.&lt;p&gt;Americans should be angered that the Chinese, years after joining the WTO, still restrict their markets in this way while enjoying open access to other markets.&lt;p&gt;This article does not touch the above. It’s about illegal, state sponsored theft of intellectual property. Are you asking why people should be upset another country is attacking companies based in the US and stealing their technology?</text></comment>
<story><title>China Steps Up Trade Secret Theft from US Companies</title><url>http://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-china-economic-espionage-20181116-story.html?id=1231</url></story><parent_chain><item><author>shantanubala</author><text>This might be an unpopular opinion, but I&amp;#x27;ll express a counterpoint - viewing the same situation through a different lens.&lt;p&gt;Put simply, the Chinese understand why American companies outsource their labor to China. Chinese labor is cheaper, and they are under no illusions - this outsourcing means that their own country experiences many of the negative externalities of Western consumption, including pollution.&lt;p&gt;It&amp;#x27;s fair for American businesses to distrust Chinese companies and distrust the Chinese government, but can&amp;#x27;t we all agree that they brought it on themselves?&lt;p&gt;Which multinational corporation reasonably expects that the Chinese government cares about their bottom line at all? And why do many ordinary Americans experience such outrage on behalf of these multinationals? Of course, I understand why their shareholders (and thus, many Americans) may be upset.&lt;p&gt;If anything, I&amp;#x27;m angry they jumped at the opportunity to eradicate their domestic workforce to a point where China has the opportunity to steal in the first place.</text></item></parent_chain><comment><author>rgbrenner</author><text>Americans are ok with companies outsourcing their labor to other countries... as long as those countries play fair. The assumption is that in a fair game, American&amp;#x27;s will find a way to win. But China doesn&amp;#x27;t play fair.&lt;p&gt;This is like you and me playing a game, and I find out you&amp;#x27;re a cheater.. and you say, &amp;#x27;what are you upset about? You invited me here&amp;#x27;</text></comment>