>they made massive efforts to pilfer technology and methodologies from Western Europe. // You can't steal ideas. If they took technology, duplicated it and mad

>they made massive efforts to pilfer technology and methodologies from Western Europe. // You can't steal ideas. If they took technology, duplicated it and made it better then that's a good thing. >so much that they briefly "surpassed" // They copied, but they got a better grade? This sounds like a good thing, something all technology companies working in the same area should strive for, and indeed how patents (in a limited way) and open-source work : one creates improvement over the current developments. Why would you want people spending time 'reinventing the wheel' just because they live in another country. Use the best of tech and make it better if you can.