The maglev was developed by Siemens in the 80s in Germany. It was called Transrapid. But we Germans were motivated to built a single railroad for it. So when Siemens went to China with it, we knew what would happen. Personally, i am kind of grateful that they use the technology instead that it rots away in some storage room in Munich at Siemens.
I wonder how this happens. Is it the naivety of leadership at western corporations, or is it simple greed because those leaders may show short term results that boost their compensation? And of course, I have to wonder why western governments don’t restrict their corporations from risking their economic and military sovereignty in the future through these terrible partnerships.
The same thing is happening in aerospace and it isn’t even new. For example China tried cloning a Boeing jet it acquired way back in 1980 (https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1980/05/09/c...). China’s more recent attempts are much more successful (https://www.bbc.com/news/business-47689386) and although they rely on western avionics and engines, I am sure they’re busy trying to clone those as well.
EDIT: found an article detailing IP competition and theft relating to HSR broadly, including maglev (https://itif.org/publications/2021/04/26/heading-track-impac...)