A lot of this is downstream of compensation schemes that explicitly reward dumb metrics, like raw paper-count without subjective evaluation of contribution or quality. I don't want to generalize, but this seems to be more common in countries that are not the US or Europe.

It's not new, and entire disciplines exist because of these dependent structures. It doesn't do to unseat and discredit the connected and well regarded, but you might enjoy some mild comfort in security in numbers through a little citational flattery.

It's a game of cultural tribalism. The only thing worse for one than not engaging is to upset the status quo unblessed.