Sounds like high time preference thinking to me. China opened trade with the west when they were on a silver standard and the west was on a gold standard. That difference in money hardness led to what Chinese history books call the Century of Humiliation. Do you want government to adopt first with a century of humiliation for the people or people first with a century of humiliation for governments? I know my answer. After all, governments held the monetary control for the last 100 years and the people have already had a century of humiliation.