Oh yeah, I figure that after I posted the first time, so edited it to remove the "but" part.
Another thing that bugs me is this sort of racism. I heard this from a friend a few years back:
China can't make anything original, they can only imitate
But ... go back a few decades and sustitude "Japan" in there, same quote.
For example, people say planes like the Chengdu J20 are "clones" of a number of American designs despite the size and lines of the fusilage, and shape of the wings etc, being completely different. e.g. the best comparison says the J20 is a knock off of the F22, but here's a picture. Spot the similarity if you can.
They're ... both planes. That's about it. Pretty much everything about the J20 is vastly different to even the closest American-made fighter they try and compare it to.
For the J31 vs F35 it's a lot closer, since they're the same generation of tech and aimed at filling the same mission, but then you realize the J31 is a twin-engine fighter while the F35 is a single-engine fighter. You don't just "copy" a single engine fighter, and add another engine, change the wing shape, change the tail shape and expect it to
fly. It is in fact a completely different plane:
In a few decades it will be "but Indians can't make anything original, they can only imitate ... American, Japan and Chinese products".