John
- 2006-09-02
2nd September 2006
Mike,
It looks that the posting you have made may be an extract from something greater. The link you quote has not so far opened for me so I have only the posting to go on.
It seems that the author is suggesting that China is in some way a special place compared to elsewhere but I don't entirely accept this.
There are of course, important differences between China and the West but there are equally important differences between India and the West; South America and the West and most of Africa and the West. Thus China and its differences are not unique nor particularly unusual. As with any other country, the better you know China and its laws and customs the more successful youre likely to be in doing business.
The differences between China and its Asian neighbours are more likely to be quite recent and rooted in the period where China shunned the rest of the world whereas it s Asian neighbours did not.
Chinas social groupings are generally associated with ethnic or tribal divisions. Whilst these may not be too territorial in their recognition of provincial boundaries, ethnic groupings are nevertheless semi-territorial because tribes and ethnic groups tend to have originated in specific areas of the country. These areas are more often defined by climate or geography rather than man-made borders. Americans and others from the west tend not to lump themselves into ethnic groups beyond that of nationality but are more territorial or in some instances, political. Chinese people do not generally offer up their ethnic origins to foreigners, though they make no secret of it when asked.
Taking the subject of marriage, I would comment that many developing countries also have social systems where parents are influential in the selection of their childrens marriage partners. Next door in India, arranged marriages are the norm among most of the population. Nearly all Muslim countries in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia encourage arranged marriages. So parental influence on Chinese marriages is not unusual.
Moving on to schooling, it is a fact that in most countries, education is a matter of duty for parents to become involved in. Parents are responsible for their children and have to sign various documents connected with schooling. Then they may have to pay fees or buy books and uniforms, pay for hostel accommodation, transport to and from school and suchlike. Thus the choice of school is very often dictated by how much it will cost the student's parents. Again, this is not a Chinese phenomenon but one that faces so many parents the world over.
It is also correct to say that outward signs of Western influence among the Chinese young does not mean they have rejected contemporary Chinese values Yet!
However, for China, it is in my opinion a sign that must be taken account of. The young in any country are the group that will become the next generations leaders and trend-setters. In China, young people are generally brought up quite strictly toeing current ideological and social lines. They are subject to significant parental influence and discipline. In short they are far better behaved than their Western counterparts and less likely to create trouble. They are more malleable whilst under their parents thumbs and still at school or college where heavy influence is also exerted upon them.
I think, therefore, that it is relevant to look at the currently cosmetic activities of the younger generation in their choice of clothes, food, and entertainment. Then compare it with the activities of the next older generation. In the various Special Administrative Regions in China they have become about as capitalist in their thinking and money-making abilities as it is possible to get whilst still being in China.
As the present generation of juveniles moves closer to self-determination, they will carry with them not only the Western influences; such as eating McDonalds fast food: wearing Western clothes: listening to Western music and watching Western movies - but many aspects of Western influence that have not yet surfaced among them. They will, for example, take Western infuence on wealth retention; materialsm, elitism, and the very essence of Western governance too. Thus, whilst the younger generation may not yet have rejected Chinese values, many of them will do so when they become independent of current discipline, or at best will greatly temper those values with their own ideas and perceptions. As a consequence, society will almost certainly change.
In business too, virtually everywhere it is essential for commercial companies and governmental organisations to be managed from within a hierarchy. China is no exception and it is probably their experience of living their lives within a strict hierarchy of power that makes them so successful in business when many of the petty restrictions have been removed.
Everywhere I have lived or visited to conduct business I have found that the people I have dealt with have also been influenced by their personal circumstances, education and background. Thus here again, the diversity that this imparts to Chinese business exists in all countries and is by no means unique to China. Just about everywhere there is a perceptible difference in the attitudes and work ethic between state-employed people and those working for commercial concerns. The former do not generally have the immediacy of a profit target to aim for and thus there is less incentive to work harder or more efficiently.
China, however, is disadvantaged even now by the effects of ideological fervour in the past. This held China back for years whilst the rest of the world surged ahead in all social and technical aspects whilst China languished in the dark. Therefore, China has to run fast in order to catch up and still has some way to go.
Many multinational companies are beating paths to China because of the changes in Chinese thinking that have enabled them to make profits and repatriate them back home. Also, they recognise that there is a growing pool of young Chinese people with management potential who are already imbued with the Western principle where quantified success breeds proportional reward. Such people carry their companies to greater success and expect to share in a greater personal reward. These people will continue to come in the future from the ranks of youngsters who today frequent McDonalds and who surf the Internet at home and wear Western clothes. This is a classic way in which societies evolve the world over.
I agree that China was the subject of numerous interventions by a variety of foreign countries in the past. However, so were France, Belgium, Italy, the United Kingdom and many others. Indeed, many of these countries were practically ruined by wars and annexations. Some even vanished altogether. So I think that China had its fair share of outside interference as did many other countries but has come through all of that very successfully. More serious and lasting damage has been caused to China by its own actions in the past and it is that damage that China is now repairing.
If China still does hold foreigners in such deep suspicion, then it seems very strange, if not dangerous, to open their Country so wide and invitingly to foreign multinational organisations. If they so wish these organisations can inflict more damage on China than could an army! They can even inflict damage without wishing to do so by way of the social and economic changes they impart by being there at all!
I do not wish to become embroiled in discussion about how America and Americans are now viewed by the rest of the world or specifically by China and the Chinese. I will simply say that in my opinion America is now reaping the whirlwind of its arrogant and self-centred attitudes towards foreign policy in the past. That this rubs off on individual Americans abroad is a pity but regrettably that attitude is here to stay.
As a foreign resident in China for a few years, I compare it with the many other countries I have visited often or lived in during the past thirty years. I see in China a country that has improved far beyond many others. It has left its equally populous neighbours of India and Pakistan far behind. China is rapidly progressing to the point where it will replace the United States as the leading world power both economically and militarily in the foreseeable future. China is gaining the respect of much of the rest of the world whereas the United States is losing it.
In my time here, I have come to regard China as the country that has had perhaps the greatest influence on my thinking. Doubtless there are exceptions to what I am about to say and maybe a number of dissenters too. However this is a discussion forum!
I see the Chinese government genuinely trying to make their Country into a better place and have already done this to a huge extent. They do not pose a threat to any other country nor do they seem to want this. Their society is largely safe and stable and they appear to take care of those who are dispossessed. They educate practically all of their young and they look after all of their elderly who have no extended family.
It is easy to point fingers at areas where their performance is less than favourable but this can also be done in the best run countries of the West.
Looking at the Chinese jigsaw in progress as various pieces are put in their places, the big picture is even now clear enough. China is already a decent country in which to live, work and enjoy reasonable freedoms that do not threaten the security of the state. However, despite its achievements, I do not see China as anything particularly 'special'
John
http://www.fathom.com/course/21701776/session5.html
August 29 2OO6 / University of Michigan
There are important cultural differences between China and the West, and as well as between China and other parts of Asia. Studies have shown that the Chinese are generally more comfortable working in environments where job descriptions and lines of reporting are clearly defined, and where relationships between superiors and subordinates are formal and distant.
The Chinese are more likely than Americans to describe themselves in terms of memberships in groups rather than in terms of individual achievement. Outward signs of Western influence among China's urban youth--from wearing jeans to eating at McDonald's--do not mean that these youth have rejected Chinese values, and in most cases their most important life decisions--where to work, where to live, whom to marry--are more influenced by their parents than are the decisions of America's youth.
In a business context, however, broad generalizations about Chinese culture are not very useful. Individual Chinese personalities vary according to family background, education, work experience, and a host of other factors, and appreciating this tremendous diversity is much more important than learning about broad cultural norms. Newcomers to China, for example, immediately notice the difference between Chinese people who work in state-owned companies and those who work in the semiprivate sector.
Attitudes toward work also vary greatly according to age, and despite more than a half-decade of Communism, multinationals are still able to find young managers who are eager to work for firms that reward personal achievement rather than seniority and political loyalty. Finally, China seems to have the same fraction of potential entrepreneurs and innovators as any other country--maybe more, given that China's strong family system can act as a safety net when new businesses fail.
cutely aware of their country's disastrous encounters with foreign powers in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. With a series of wars, beginning with the Opium War in 1840 and ending with World War II, the European powers, as well as Russia and Japan, took their turns at extracting major diplomatic and territorial concessions from China.
Some parts, such as Hong Kong, became true colonies, while other, "semicolonial" parts remained Chinese but subject to foreign law. Chinese nationalism grew rapidly after World War I, when the Treaty of Versailles gave the German colony of Shandong to the Japanese rather than returning it to China. After the Communist victory in 1949, the Soviet Union was China's principal ally, but it was never a close alliance, and the relationship deteriorated into armed conflict in 1960.
For most Chinese, the lesson from recent history is that foreigners and their motives should be treated with extreme caution, if not outright suspicion, and that it is China's military strength, rather than the good intentions of foreigners, that prevents history from repeating itself.
Americans are educated to believe that their policies and practices toward China during this period were more enlightened those of the Europeans, and most Americans still believe that the United States has never owned colonies, including the Philippines.
The Chinese, on the other hand, tend to lump all foreign powers together when they talk about their past. To the extent that America is singled out as being different from other foreign powers, it is as the protector of Taiwan, which the vast majority of Chinese believe should be returned to China, and as China's main enemy during the Korean War.
The complicated and volatile relationship between China and the United States can have an impact on personal relationships. Americans traveling and working in China should be prepared to confront anti-American sentiment from all types of Chinese, even the urban, educated elite that foreign executives encounter in disproportionate numbers.
A common starting point is to be asked about a specific American policy or statement about China--perhaps a recent quote from a senior administrative official about Taiwan, or a speech by the American president on human rights in China. Rather than enter into a debate about the subject at hand, many Americans will respond by trying to separate themselves from the actions of their own government, pointing out that the American people are not the same thing as the American government.
This defense is perceived as somewhat disingenuous, however, because polls show that most Americans are in fact suspicious of China's global ambitions and deplore its human rights record. Educated Chinese who understand the American political system--and many of them do--will point out that democracies are supposed to elect officials who reflect the attitudes and opinions of their constituents.
The situation is complicated by several factors. For one, there are pundits in the United States who advocate a much more confrontational stance toward China, although their ideas are still not in the mainstream; for another, the Chinese government does not hesitate to fuel negative public attitudes toward the United States to its own advantage.
Access to foreign news and information through such means as satellite television, the Internet and foreign travel has done little to change public attitudes toward the United States, and the Internet may in fact contribute to the rapid development and dissemination of conspiracy theories about American intentions.
The successful approach you might want to take in order to avoid conflict is to openly acknowledge that many Americans have negative opinions toward China--without stating whether one agrees with them--while at the same time pointing out that Americans also admire many aspects of contemporary China, such as its record of economic achievement. Conversations on sensitive topics work better when personal relations between a Chinese and a foreigner have matured to the point where a certain amount of tension will not threaten to destroy the entire relationship.