Changing attitudes to intellectual property rights in China: the nexus between Chinese culture and the rule of law

Many aspects of intellectual property rights (IPR) in China are canvassed in the literature. In this treatment of IPR, the cultural architecture of IPR is often promoted as the paramount explanation of the piracy of intellectual property in China. Notwithstanding culture's influence, the recent experience of Taiwan, a country with a similar cultural profile to that of China, suggests that China has the potential to establish a functional regime for IPR. This development, however, requires appropriate incentives and new norms for IPR. This paper identifies and analyses aspects of the cultural, social, economic, historical, and political architecture of IPR in China. While not downgrading the influence of culture on attitude formation, the experience of Taiwan indicates that the piracy of IPR