De Gruyter Contemporary Social Sciences15 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.