I was just reading Rebecca MacKinnon’s article about Web innovation, and why Hong Kong lags behind China. I like Rebecca’s site, but - as one of her readers did - I gotta disagree with her on this one. Here’s why:

Slightly Outnumbered…

To compare the web development happening in China (population 1.3 billion) with Hong Kong (6.9 million) is would be similar to making a comparison between India (1.1 billion) and Dalian China (6 or 7 million, depending on who you ask). On a per capita basis, I wouldn’t be surprised if web development isn’t actually a little better in Hong Kong.

The Copy-Cat Syndrome

We all know that China likes to copy stuff. If you’ve been reading this blog lately, you’re especially aware of that (see China Stolen-Media-of-the-Day below). If you ever need two of anything, you might want to consider giving it to a Chinaman, and it most likely it’ll come back in duplicate. NOTE: Have him CC it to another Chinaman if you need three. This phenomenon seems to be prevalent on the internet as well.

Want Proof?

Here examples of some so-called Chinese web 2.0 innovation, and the corresponding site that was ripped off:
Youku.com is a video site very much like youtube.com.
Xiaonei.com is a blatant rip-off of Facebook.com.
Fotolog.com.cn is a Chinese Flickr copy.
Hipihi.com is the Chinese Second Life.
Dingr.com is a clone of Digg.com.
** For the ultimate copy cat story, see how Digg.cn used the exact same layout as digg.com. I can’t seem to access Digg.cn right now though.

Basically, if you can think of a innovative/pioneering web 2.0 app, chances are it’s been copied in China. They may even be so bold as to slap a “.cn” on the end to replace the “.com” domain.

Web 2.0 is about innovation, and if it’s not original — well then, you’s disqualified in my book. Now granted, I’m glad that these clones are making it to China. Even if they are copies, they do make the Chinese internet a much better place.

But I wouldn’t call it innovation. I can’t think of many web innovations that were made in China.

Can anyone prove me wrong?
I hope so…

And appropriately…

China Stolen-Media-of-the-Day: Star Wars Attack of the Clones

Arrrr… I’m a pirate! Well, actually it’s not just attack of the clones. Some guy went and uploaded a bunch of Star Wars movies to his tudou account. You can watch 5 Star Wars Episodes streamed back-to-back here. And they’re fast too.

By the way, 25 days left and I still can’t speak Japanese.

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