So long as protection of intellectual-property rights in China is woefully inadequate, the high-speed rail market is likely to remain riddled with heated disputes. In China, the rush to apply for patents is sometimes said to be about saving face with ordinary Chinese, who might well object to buying technology from abroad when China’s government so often lauds homegrown technology.
如果中国对知识产权的保护一直这样混乱下去，高速铁路市场也将被相关的激烈冲突所困扰。在中国，申请专利的热潮有时被认为是为了维护普通中国人的面子，因为这些人在中国政府大肆吹嘘本土技术的情况下反对购买国外技术。但如果中国真正被发现剽窃了新干线技术的话，那么它丢的面子肯定会更大。