I used to think that the Chinese copied things that other people did because they wanted to make a living off of it. But lately I've been wondering if there's (1) a culture-wide case of not-built-here-ism, (2) a fear of doing things differently, and last but not least (3) the fact interactions in Chinese culture seem remarkably and subtlely different from interactions in Western culture.
(1) explains why they would clone something as mundane (and not wildly profitable) as github (as linked elsewhere in these comments).
(2) explains why I have heard Singaporean friends from school say, lets make a Singaporean Yelp! Westerners say, lets make a yelp for <different purpose>.
(3) explains why they would want their own forums and "public spaces."
These reasons seem as plausible (and a lot less malicious) than merely, the Chinese copy everything for fun and profit (even though there are elements of that elsewhere), and I think it's worth thinking about these differences in culture, because it helps us look into our own faults.
Not sure why you were downvoted, I think you're making fair points; I live in Korea and see very similar mindsets here.
Another reason specific to China is that it's downright impossible for a foreign company to operate an internet service there, the required licenses are incredibly complex to acquire. For instance, in order for Microsoft to launch Azure in China, they had to partner up with the biggest Chinese hosting company (21Vianet).
Trying to talk about these things in Western circles is kind of curious. I could make these points with my Native-born Asian friends from college just fine. Actually, I can see some of them saying these things outright. There's a weird line drawn where you can say "A Chinese copy of Github," with all the implications it entails, but you can't go further than that. In my mind, the title is inflammatory; I was borderline being apologist, and suggesting there are ways in which the West is no better, which means that no one is happy.
(1) explains why they would clone something as mundane (and not wildly profitable) as github (as linked elsewhere in these comments). (2) explains why I have heard Singaporean friends from school say, lets make a Singaporean Yelp! Westerners say, lets make a yelp for <different purpose>. (3) explains why they would want their own forums and "public spaces."
These reasons seem as plausible (and a lot less malicious) than merely, the Chinese copy everything for fun and profit (even though there are elements of that elsewhere), and I think it's worth thinking about these differences in culture, because it helps us look into our own faults.