I'm painting with a broad brush :). The extremely negative and short-sighted attitude about Chinese knockoffs is (in my experience) most prevalent in 'western' countries: USA, Canada, UK, Western Europe. I have less contact with Eastern Europe, South America or Africa so I can't comment on their reactions.

Attitudes toward copying are very cultural. In China, it stems from pragmatism and a greater focus on the ends rather than the means (winning trumps winning well) whereas in the US--and West--winning is important, but so is "playing fair".

Just from reading the comments here you can get an idea it's more than the NY Times, the assumption of westerners is an assumption, but do you seriously think it's a bad one?