The China Price : Thinking about China but not looking at who we are

Not too long ago, an MBA class at HKUST that I’m taking had a guest speaker – Alexandra Harney – the author of a book called "The China Price". The main message was that "we", as "future managers", should also take into consideration the human cost of doing business in China and that behind the wonderful exterior of a blooming economy hides a story of the Chinese worker scarifying his rights, his dignity, his health and well-being for a financial benefit to himself and his family. The Chinese government was put on the spot in allowing all this to take place, but the speaker also suggested personal responsibility for those doing business with China.

Honestly, I was deeply bothered by that lecture. Not because I was exposed to the horrors of labor exploitation for the first time, and not by the inconceivable inequality in standard of living between some parts of China and the more developed countries. What was shocking to me was the ongoing never ending double standards applied to the discussion of China and Chinese culture. Foreigners constantly judge China by morals and ethics they would never consider applying to themselves. The Chinese are this, the Chinese are that, it’s just so horrible, it’s inexcusable, it’s the end of the world and the Chinese are to blame. They’re not self aware, they don’t see what they’re doing, they unjust, inhuman or just maybe – plain stupid as they simply don’t understand. We, the foreigners, the enlightened ones, with our business schools of management and multi-variant analysis, from our highly successful never failing economies of just human rights and perfect law systems would finally bring civilization to the native savages, if they don’t kill themselves or us first.

I’m aware of the horrible stories out there and it is important to discuss them, but when the discussion turns to the lack of equal opportunity health care and social welfare system in China one begins to ask – wait, wait, hold on a second, with the speaker and over 50% of this class from the states – what health care system are you talking about? what pension plan? when a guy from California starts talking about the Chinese not caring about the environment, I can’t help but ask myself if this guy ever stopped to consider his own contribution, or his country’s, to the problem with the environment.

Richard (The Peking Duck) recently referred to "How China sees itself" with the following remark :

It’s not surprising to see America in second place, of course. Anyone who spends a lot of time oversees (or even reads a lot of foreign magazines online) knows just how ugly America can look in the eyes of the world, in direct contradiction to our own perception of a benevolent, generous, often selfless friend to all the world. I got over this form of mild brainwashing when I was a teenager, and I often wonder why so many Chinese people find it next to impossible to even consider the possibility that their own image in the world is far different from their own perception. [...]

Yan’s comment is like spitting into a hurricane. It’s going to take a lot of time and deprogramming before most Chinese people realize their perception of China is not a universal one. And yes, that goes for America as well, though the smoke in our eyes isn’t nearly as thick.

Michael Turton adds:

I think the problem isn’t just propaganda, Richard, but also that Chinese culture/mentality appears to lack any critique of itself, the way westerners in both Europe and the US often question the way their own nations/cultures behave. [...]

Reading a few more comments I felt I needed to say something :

[...] the way this discussion is taking place in the comments that I read suggests that people of all nationalities, especially those of western countries and the states, not only see themselves and their governments in a much more positive light than they perhaps should, but also that they consider themselves to be of somewhat superior culture, moral and ethics. Neocolonialism, maybe. Classic cognitive bias, perhaps.

It’s a classic cross cultural attitude that expats often adopt, especially westerners in Asia. I’ve seen this in the more developed and democratic Taiwan as well (sometimes like Michael who is commenting here). “They don’t know what they’re doing”, “they’re not self-aware”, “they still have a lot to learn”, “back home we do things SO much better”, “we ARE aware”. Are you? Do you now? Is it really?

My take on things – try and apply some cultural sensitivity and see things from a different perspective. Living in Asia and having many Chinese and Taiwanese friends has been a humbling experience for me. Though those Chinese and Taiwanese who connect with an expat like me are already not your average sample, I believe they reflect the diversity of those cultures and the fact that you can find beauty and flaws in any society. There is alot that we can criticize China, Taiwan or Israel for, but we can not apply double standards when we look at ourselves. Looking from within, Chinese, Taiwanese and Israelis sometimes employ much higher self-criticism than some of the North-Americans and Europeans I know, even if they have their own way of doing that and do show patriotic emotions to outsiders. You might not agree with their government’s bottom line actions and with what you think their social reaction as people should be, but to that I would encourage you to strongly consider what your government, your people and yourself have all done in the last few years on those same issues in your country [...]

The ones lacking critique are us. That China Price session in a room full of international MBA and exchange students eager for stories that would confirm and strengthen the horrors of China they travelled half the world to hear was – to me – a somewhat sad reflection of who we are.