Western technology transfers not one-sided victory
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China is now the world's largest electricity consumer, driving a domestic reactor boom. Many Western companies desperately want to hop on the bandwagon. Westinghouse won the heavily contested bid to build four third-generation AP1000 reactors in China recently. But the contract includes a clause for a technology transfer, in which, according to the Financial Times, Westinghouse has delivered over 75,000 technical documents to Chinese companies.
There's debate whether the West should have traded its technological advantage for temporary market gain. Equally there is also debate in China whether the country should have sold its contracts to foreigners for technology.
Some myopic Western pundits and select companies are worried that China will one day become a fierce competitor using this newly acquired Western technology.
China's high-speed rail program may have exemplified these worries. China now has the most advanced and fatest rail system in the world after assimilating imported technology. It has been expanding its grids beyond the national perimeter and competing with international contractors.
Some Western companies feel this practice is unfair. These companies are accusing China of something they call "tech theft." However, it is China's learning ability and innovation based on technology transfers that dismays those cynics.
This is exactly what the West was not prepared for. They underestimated the vast human resources behind every bid.
Western companies believe, or hope, that China should stay permanently as a technology user rather than a maker. This is unrealistic.
China has the capability to develop its own technologies even without Western help. Transferring technologies before they become outdated is beneficial to both China and Western companies.
The size of the market means that China can have some privileges in setting prices or details of the contract. Given such a market situation, there is no justification for the West to take umbrage.
If the high-speed rail controversy sees its sequel in nuclear technology, hypocrites will detract from the creed that once flourished in Western economies: Competition brings efficiency. China's competitive participation will push the technology vanguard forward. Its large market also serves as an arena to test and select the best technological achievements of past several years.
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