Why Can't They Stand to See Us Succeed?

Many ordinary people have a fairly narrow worldview — they look at things from a single angle, and they’re easily driven by emotion.

But you still cannot look down on them for this. Their awareness and insight may not match yours, yet at their core, they remain good and simple-hearted people. The key difference is simply that their base of knowledge is more limited.

Not long ago, at a dinner gathering, a young friend turned to me with a question: “Master Chi, why is it that people on the other side of the Pacific always seem to have those who can’t stand to see us doing well?”

It’s a good question. Let me use that question — and the answer I gave that evening — as the basis for a short piece that tries to explain the underlying logic.

In truth, before 1980, China was not yet wealthy. We were, to put it plainly, poor and underdeveloped, and our economic structure was almost entirely disconnected from the rest of the world.

But when we formally opened our doors in 1980, the entire Western world was stunned by what they found.

We weren’t rich — but the vast majority of our people had received a foundational scientific education. Our technology wasn’t advanced — but we had a solid industrial base, vast territory, and abundant resources. And unlike many other countries, we had carefully maintained, smoothly functioning infrastructure: roads, bridges, railways, shipping, electrical systems, and more.

It’s worth understanding what was happening in the West at that moment. By around 1980, they had just completed the first wave of global industrial offshoring. They had moved their low-margin, heavily polluting, high-risk basic manufacturing industries to places like Indonesia, Thailand, and South Korea — and in doing so, they helped create what became known as the “Four Asian Tigers” miracle.

But that success hit a ceiling fairly quickly. The populations of those countries couldn’t keep pace educationally, their infrastructure improvements were halting and prone to strange bureaucratic obstacles, and various inexplicable restrictions kept arising.

China was different. China was like a vast, boundless sea — capable of providing everything those other countries could not. No matter how much capital the West poured in, we could absorb it all without strain.

So we rapidly became not just the West’s new manufacturing hope, but the entire world’s.

From roughly 1990 to 2010, China acted like a magnet, drawing in capital and manufacturing capacity from across the globe.

In the process, we went through four distinct stages of evolution.

Stage One: China as Processor and Assembler

1. Western capital controlled design, R&D, and the setting of standards.
2. Western capital supplied the core components.
3. We provided the cheapest raw materials and an enormous labor force — and handled basic assembly.
4. The most profitable sales channels were also controlled by Western companies.

In this stage, we did the hardest, dirtiest, most exhausting work — and kept the thinnest margin. We earned perhaps 10% of the total value; the other 90% went to Western capital.

We were producing branded athletic wear and consumer electronics — yet many of us couldn’t afford to buy what we ourselves had made.

Some companies, however, began pushing toward something more.

Stage Two: China Begins to Build Strength

1. Through joint ventures and technology transfers, we began acquiring more advanced techniques, designs, and experience.
2. Core components were still supplied by Western capital.
3. We continued providing low-cost materials, labor, and assembly.
4. But we began building our own sales channels and distribution networks.

This marked a turning point. Our margins started to grow. We were no longer just tightening other people’s bolts — we were accumulating technical knowledge and beginning to build our own brands. Our technology still couldn’t compare to Western capital, but this was already a significant leap forward. We were starting to nurture genuinely homegrown enterprises.

Stage Three: Independent R&D, Global Competition

1. Our companies could now solve the vast majority of technical and quality challenges through independent research and development.
2. The most core components still came from Western capital — that much hadn’t changed.
3. We still handled materials, labor, and assembly — but now with exceptional technical skill.
4. We had built our own trade networks reaching across the world.

Around 2010, our commercial power began to surge. We had achieved enormous development across both technology and business systems — both were beginning to genuinely mature. More importantly, the quality of our products had undergone a complete transformation. Consumer electronics, kitchen appliances, digital products — all were winning wide recognition.

We now commanded the full production chain: design, manufacturing, and assembly — all handled internally, with no gaps. Our reputation for quality at value spread quickly and earned broad acceptance worldwide.

But we still had one critical vulnerability: chips and a handful of the most essential core technologies remained in the hands of our Western counterparts. And these, of course, were the most profitable parts of the entire industry chain.

In plain terms: we were earning more — but we were still, in a real sense, working for them.

Stage Four: We Become the True Protagonists

1. We began mastering the most core technologies and could resolve every remaining challenge.
2. We began producing the most critical components ourselves — achieving fully independent production.
3. We still offered competitive raw materials, labor, and mature production lines.
4. We possessed a mature, global trade and sales network.

2015 was a pivotal year. From that point forward, we began sprinting into the world’s highest-margin sectors: core chip semiconductors, operating systems, high-precision sensing technology, artificial intelligence, automation algorithms, and more.

These were Western capital’s trump cards — the crown jewels of global industry and commerce.

And from this stage onward, the sanctions came. The crackdowns came. The blockades came.

The reason, stated plainly: they cannot accept that a new protagonist has emerged in this world — one capable of shaking their position.

So they began calling us thieves. Fraudsters. Copycats.

And even as they screamed those accusations, they were quietly reaching for a hidden blade — waiting for the darkest moment to deliver what they hope will be a fatal blow.