When Beijing announced in September that it would no longer seek the special benefits that come with developing-country status at the World Trade Organization (WTO), some Western media outlets framed it as a concession. Meanwhile, to critics of China’s trade policy, it likely came across as a belated acknowledgement that the world’s second-largest economy should not be treated the same as, say, Cambodia or Ghana. However, China’s logic is far from being understood.Through the lens of Mao...