There's always been a lot of inside baseball with regards to international trade "rules." Countries always act in what they perceive to be their best interests

There's always been a lot of inside baseball with regards to international trade "rules." Countries always act in what they perceive to be their best interests. Ergo, there will always be tension over rules that further those interests and rules that act counter to them. Pharma patents have historically been a major example. Disempowering smaller countries in their negotiations with pharmaceutical companies (via mandatory IP enforcement) tilts the playing field in favor of corporations headquartered in first world countries. So, even in the most lawful of times (2000s?), it's a constantly shifting landscape. While China may have ignored more rules than most, the existing rules certainly didn't favor them, and they believed they had the power to ignore them. We'll see where that ends up.