Not even close. You can't be serious. China and Japan are nothing alike and any comparisons would be entirely irrelevant. For starters, Japan is a capitalistic economy with a democratic government. That alone is enough complexity to make any china >> japan comparison invalid. But just for a cherry on top; Japan 30 years ago wasn't known for excessive espionage and IP theft. Sure, all countries do it but China has taken IP theft to the next level -- their entire economy is practically based on it. Tell me, when was the last time you bought a knock-off from Japan? 30 years ago, knock-offs didn't come from Japan, they came from Singapore, Indonesia, Cambodia, China, Laos and a few other poor SE asian countries. But not Japan.
Sorry as another commenter pointed out, 30 years ago was a bit too late, add another 10 years. 40 years ago Japanese TVs and cars were complete knockoffs. They did the same stuff China is doing today. "Partnerships" and then suddenly suspiciously similar designs.
> China and Japan are nothing alike and any comparisons would be entirely irrelevant
My point isn't that China will follow the same steps as Japan. My point is that you couldn't predict Japan's trajectory - first people said they made crap knockoffs and exploited American free trade deals to dump prices, then when they started innovating, everyone said they were going to take over the world, and then suddenly Japan stagnated.
My only prediction is that China's future is just as uncertain, and any predictions are completely pulled out of anyone's ass.
