What was supposed to happen is openness to the West was supposed to move China away from dictatorial government. Approximately nobody cared whether China got rich or stayed poor; the goal was that China become free.
The original goal was to divide and conquer the communist block (taking advantage of the sino-soviet split/wedge).
After the collapse of the USSR western companies and governments saw shiny ($) ($) in their eyes and could not help themselves. They thought giving up some intellectual property rights was worth getting a leg up on their other western competition because they thought they’d be able to fend off completion local to China as they presumed it would adopt western ideas (law, governance, etc.) despite history indicating otherwise.
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