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How to Win the China Piracy Battle

I could not agree more, the key to fighting piracy in China ultimately is economic and not moralistic. However, the WTO and their respective trading nations should continue relentless pressure on China (and other trade nations) for better and more vigorous enforcement. Use of witholding trade incentives must continue. Furthermore, they must be less idealogically applied. Whether it is the press we see or actualy policy, China is subjected to considerably more censure than say, Thailand or Malaysia, though the pirating of products in both of those countrys is still broadly practiced.

China in particular, has a long and rich history of replication. This includes emporor's from various dynastys commissioning the manufacture of exacting replicas of antiquities. It had been a time honored practice, with the most accomplished artisans receiving praise and rewarded for their skills.

China today is quite a bit different than the former inward Confucian, and then communist, driven closeting of the past. But it is difficult for the West to stand on moral ground when considering history and events such as the opium wars and the smuggling of tea plants out of China for culturing in the British Raj.

Though several encouraging headlines recently point to increased enforcement in China, open sales of faked brand names is still grossly obvious to the most casual observer. As I live in, and travel Asia extensively I see this in almost every country I visit. One only needs to walk the shops and open-air markets in Shenzhen, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, name a city...to guage how prevalent this is. (For example: at the moment, directly across the street from my hotel in Bangkok, there are fake Rolex's galore, along with numerous "branded" clothing items. I think that it is erroneous to believe that somehow, as personal wealth grows, the transition to purchasing genuine Gucci will somehow follow. From my own ad hoc observations, there is no shortage of my fellow Westerners lining up to buy these items. And what is a $400.00 per month secretary opining for a fake Louis Vuitton bag doing, other than succumbing to the mind-numbing scramble for prestige that world commerece has churned up since time immemorial. However, I am much less concerned about fake Rolex's and Gucci bags. (They fall apart, or the logos tarnish, and the greedy buyer gets what he/she deserves.) I.T. products, heavy machinery, pumps, medicines, household items,process technologies, all have been subjected to copying that shows dismaying ingenuity in reverse engineering.
Official encouragement and assistance for effective enforcement will go a lot farther than assuming increased personal wealth will obviate against pirated products. I also think that while U.S. customs practices profiling visitors for security inspections, they might add to their list of profiles the returning American with the fresh tan. Chances are his luggage will contain more than one dubious product.