To coin a proverb, "There is nothing wrong with stealing innovation until you steal the life from that which creates it."
China, culturally, does not innovate or foster the mindset of problem solving or collaboration that is visible in highly innovative - honestly innovative - environments. That's why, anecdotally speaking, several major science journals do not accept papers from Chinese higher education facilities, due to having to deal with far too many retractions. I'm only a bystander to this issue, but I know it's real and will take generations to correct.
I thought it was more like "there is nothing wrong with stealing innovation until its your own innovation that is stolen." As China climbs the tech ladder and have more to lose than win by stealing, I'm sure they'll become believers in IP.
There is already some bias in CS conferences with respect to Chinese submissions, which is why in blind review we take great care to "hide" our nationality (I'm not Chinese, but work in China and publish paper with Chinese). It really isn't fair, since there is some really good research going on in China, but it gets drowned out by a few bad apples.
China, culturally, does not innovate or foster the mindset of problem solving or collaboration that is visible in highly innovative - honestly innovative - environments. That's why, anecdotally speaking, several major science journals do not accept papers from Chinese higher education facilities, due to having to deal with far too many retractions. I'm only a bystander to this issue, but I know it's real and will take generations to correct.