[phreanix]

Not in the way it is organized and encouraged in China. There are factories there that specialize in rip offs, companies that specialize in finding something invented/created elsewhere and reverse engineering.

Not to say that the US didn't do it, or that Japan was also well known in the 70's for much the same thing, but to say that it is only because China has "more people" and more "probability" is misleading. The practice is widespread and encouraged, not just by their culture, but also indirectly by their government.