[alexbeloi]

>Having worked in China in the semiconductor industry, it really saddens me what the Chinese are trying to do.

I too have worked in China, and there is nothing sad about fighting and investing heavily to catch your competition. If the competition isn't careful, they'll get blindsided just like auto companies were by similar looking Japanese manufacturing investments in the 80s. Japan used to have a reputation for really low-quality manufacturing.

[fermienrico]

Equating China with Japan is totally asinine. Japan long before the 70's had always been considered as a culture that respected quality and efficiency. In fact, every major manufacturing industry in the world today adopts some form of Japanese manufacturing principles. From airports to cancel hospitals; systems such as Kanban and Kaizen have been universally adopted.

Name one thing we have adopted from China in terms of manufacturing principles/philosophy.

Saying that China is what Japan was in the 80's is totally absurd and impossible to reason with. Not to mention, immense difference in Japanese and Chinese culture.

[alexbeloi]

It has little to do with culture and everything to do with current economic stage of development, Japan was known for making faulty mass produced garbage in the 50's and 60's, they used that economic model to bootstrap the manufacturing industry and to make investments in education, science, tech and manufacturing. From 1950 to 1970 Japan went from 40% agricultural to 17%. [0]

Similar story taking place in China, just 30 years later (following the cultural revolution). From 1980 to 2010 China went from 33% agricultural to <10%.[1] Now you're seeing deep investments in education, software, high tech manufacturing, science. In 20 years, it will be normal to see Chinese brands leading the market in some areas the way Toyota, Honda, Sony and Panasonic did in the 90s and 2000s (and still now in some areas).

>Name one thing we have adopted from China in terms of manufacturing principles/philosophy.

I don't know who we are in this conversation, but from my point of view, there seems to be some kind of hegemonic-cultural war going on in the JAPAC region. I have no stake in the fight, so arguments stemming from the point of view of cultural superiority will fall on deaf ears.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economic_history_of_Japan#Fact...

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_agriculture_in_the_...

edit: A side note is that Japan in the 80s was exporting their highest quality goods to the US while leaving lower-mid quality goods for the domestic market, this is also contributed to Japan's good brand growth internationally.