The Imitation Paradox

How did China transform from technological copycat to global innovator? The Imitation Paradox challenges Western narratives of "theft" and "imitation," and reframes imitation as a creative force in China's technological rise. Drawing on 40 years of fieldwork – spanning telecoms, shanzhai culture, and pandemic apps – Xiaobai Shen reveals how imitation shapes innovation, participation, and governance in the digital age. Shen argues that China and the West operate within "two moral universes:" In the Chinese framework, shaped by Confucian traditions, ethical concepts like privacy, freedom, and collective good are relational and context-dependent rather than universal. These values support a distinctive digital governance rooted in civic cultivation and mass participation.