The US got away with it because countries like the UK couldn't police it during the industrial revolution. Whoops.
The Chinese got away with it because the US couldn't police it on the global stage. Whoops.
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But the US might've found a way to police it effectively now... soooo why would we not? Why would we permit it because others historically got away with it? Without civility, you only own what you can defend.
That's just the thing though right?
I mean, if the Chinese are engaging in IP theft in a fashion that is both broad, (across all industries), and brazen, then how effective can our policing methods be?
The only thing we can really do is stop trading with them. Which is really not going to stop them stealing ideas, nor will it stop their domestic market from growing.
The reason every great power in history engaged in blatant IP theft, is because it really has been extremely difficult to prevent it throughout human history. (Greeks were really smart, so Romans and Egyptians stole metallurgy from them.) IP theft is just a hard problem.
That naturally asks how to keep trade secrets better? Manufacture domestically, air gapped servers, better pentesting etc. etc.
Because IP law is morally wrong and makes the world a significantly worse place? Anything that underminds IP law is good, in my book, no matter who benefits.
There are lots of horrible things in the world that would be economicly beneficial to the offending party, that we don't do because they are wrong.
eh...really? Like how?
You really think IP theft got halted because one guy was arrested?