> Is it actually protectionism that gives most of the benefit here, or just comparatively cheaper labor costs, massive economies of scale (aided by a huge domestic market), disregard for other countries' IP, and a willingness to make targeted sacrifices (e.g. environmental impact) ?

All of these have benefited China. I was pointing out how protectionism has done so, independently of the other factors. Those were not necessary for the protectionism to be beneficial. The mainstream assumption in the West in the post-Reagan era has been that this is impossible, that any form of protectionism must be a net negative when you consider the effects on all parties involved.

Of course it depends on the implementation. Blindly slapping massive tariffs on everything and calling it a day just hoping it will work out isn't necessarily going to benefit anyone.