
MI6 chief questions China's role in UK tech sector - Sami_Lehtinen
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-46431810
======
metacritic12
I think the West is finally waking up to the rampant IP theft that China
perpetrates, and how their growth is fueled by this.

Regardless of what you say about Brexit or Trump, the part of the populism
movement that resonates across the spectrum is that there have been a few
state actors that have been taking advantage of the Washington-consensus world
order.

Democrats and Republicans alike, and Labour and Tories alike, are more or less
in their dismay toward China and Russia.

People across the west and the spectrum are waking up to the reality of how
China grows.

~~~
GreeniFi
I run a business at risk of IP theft and this worries me. But sometimes I also
wonder if in reality IP is a fairly weak premise for a business (I
know...sleepless nights this issue gives me), precisely because (1) it’s so
easily stealable, and (2) a lot of cultures don’t really seem to view IP as
property, which is a western-centric point of view. And then I think we’ve
been mad in the West to construct economies on IP creation rather than
manufacturing, just because, well, who will we sue?

~~~
guiriduro
IP theft is usually (but not always) a needless worry - at least it comes way
behind proving a product:market fit. Being the best (aligned to your customer)
source of a solution normally trumps being the only source. That said, some
investors or specific highly competitive marketplaces may favour an IP-
protected solution.

~~~
GreeniFi
I think that’s the conclusion I’ve reached. Thanks for your response.

------
robbie78
No word on social media and Brexit. People are still living in a dream state
about what the real threat is .

China and Russia sure can cause hurt here and there but in a hyperconnected
economic order sooner or later they suffer too.

Look at the yellow jacket movement in France. Nobody has any idea how to
control that. That's the danger. To wake up one morning and find your house or
business burnt done cause some group or the other has been triggered on social
media.

~~~
metacritic12
I find it interesting that if you look at the top articles on HN mentioning
China in a negative light, more often than in other articles, you'll get
comments talking about:

\- How another country (the US usually) is even worse in many ways.

\- A change of topic from the article being mentioned.

This is not an an ad-hom against the OP, for all I know he's a normal guy
sitting right in my state. But just a pattern if you search other HN articles
on China.

Also, I don't get your middle sentence

> Eventually China and Russia will hurt too.

If China steals UK IP, how will China "eventually hurt", other than using the
most roundabout logic?

~~~
yourbandsucks
China is notably not implicated in messing with the democracies on things like
brexit or Trump. Which isn't to say they're saints -- they're just playing a
longer game.

As far as people who dare to defend China against being THE WORST... I mean,
1.4 billion people, some of them move to America and speak English. It doesn't
have to be a conspiracy.

EDIT: More downvotes, please. Express your patriotism.

~~~
metacritic12
Right, but if there was a post about how the US is still polluting with a lot
of coal, how often is the top post "But China..." Similarly, India has even
more US immigrants, but look at the top critical articles on India.

There's plenty of new evidence showing that China does engage in so-call
"Sharp power"

[https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/12/21/one-of-americas-
biggest...](https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/12/21/one-of-americas-biggest-
chinese-language-newspapers-toes-beijings-party-line-china-influence-united-
front/)

I think the proper policy is that HN users should upvote the sidetrack if they
find that to be most interesting, and upvote the normal topic if they believe
otherwise.

I'm sure admins can take a look into both Russian, Chinese, or even corporate
influencers, and find ways to scale down their impact, which the admins
should. If they're real opinions of a 1:1 person, then that's fair.

~~~
yourbandsucks
On carbon, trajectory counts. China's government is investing in clean energy
and taking it seriously. America? ... Maybe this topic is a bad example for
what you're trying to say.

My beef is seeing liberals succumb to red scare and hypernationalism regarding
China. They have problems, but they've also done a phenomenal job for their
own people these last 40 years.

~~~
hnmonkey
Where is this partisanship coming from? There's no mention of being liberal or
conservative upstream from this comment but this comment (and others of yours)
are attempting to call out one party in the US and throwing fault their way.
It's odd since it isn't a thing in the original article probably because it's
not about the US at all.

~~~
yourbandsucks
The people from Google who've been demonizing the Chinese largely self
identify as "liberal". Yes, it's awfully ironic.

I wouldn't call it partisan as they're nowhere close to mainstream Democrats.

