All cultures have disadvantaged groups. is section identies some sectors that have unequal status. ese can be dened by eco- nomic status as well as by race or gender. Only the most industrial- ized nations tend to have a large, stable middle class. Many countries have a small, rich elite and a huge, poverty-stricken underclass. Issues of male-female equality are also analyzed in this section. It is useful for a female business executive to know how women are regarded in a foreign country. Never forget that this model represents cultural patterns that may or may not apply to each individual you contact and get to know. Utilize this information as a guideline and remain open to the new experiences we all encounter abroad. “Vérité en-deça des Pyrénées, erreur au-delà.” —B P, – “ere are truths on this side of the Pyrenees which are falsehoods on the other.” —: G H Cultural Orientation xvii xviii China PAGE 1 South Korea PAGE 125 Japan PAGE 56 India PAGE 21 Thailand PAGE 171 Mayaysia PAGE 74 Singapore PAGE 110 Indonesia PAGE 35 Vietnam PAGE 183 Sri Lanka PAGE 143 Taiwan PAGE 155 Philippines PAGE 94 Hong Kong PAGE 16 MAP OF ASIA PAC IF IC OC EA N Ba y o f Beng al Arab i an S ea I N DI AN O CE AN So u th C hi na Se a Phi li pp in e Se a Mongolia Pakistan Tibet Nepal Burma Bangladesh Laos Cambodia 1 China People’s Republic of China Local short form: Zhong Guo Local long form: Zhonghua Renmin Gongheguo Abbreviation: PRC Cultural Note The People’s Republic of China is well on its way to becoming the superpower of the twenty- first century. Aside from having the world’s largest population and the world’s largest army, it is a nuclear and space power. Now it is a global economic power as well. In February of 2005, the government of China lent the government of Russia U.S. $6 billion to help Moscow nationalize the oil company Yukos. ● 3 WHAT’S YOUR CULTURAL IQ? 1. TRUE or FALSE? e Chinese are not interested in most interna- tional sports. ANSWER: FALSE. While many Chinese have limited experience playing sports, they are often avid fans (and sports gamblers). When Shanghai-born Yao Ming joined the Houston Rockets in 2002, Chinese interest in basketball soared overnight. And the Beijing Olympics has gener- ated massive interest in Olympic sports. 2. Match the following Nobel Prize laureates with the appropriate prize: a. Tenzin Gyatso 1. Nobel in physics, 1957 b. Chen Ning Yang 2. Nobel for literature, 2000 c. Gao Xingjian 3. Nobel Peace Prize, 1989 ANSWERS: a. 3; b. 1; c. 2. Tenzin Gyatso is better known as the fourteenth Dalai Lama of Tibet. Tibet, of course, has been occupied by the PRC since 1950. Gao Xingjian was the first Chinese to win the Nobel for literature. There have been many Nobel Prizes awarded to Chinese in 2 Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: Asia the sciences, although most of the recipients (like Chen Ning Yang) have done their most important scientific work in the West. 3. ere are many places in Asia where the People’s Republic of China nds itself in conict with other countries. Which of these is not currently an international “hot spot?” a. Macao b. North Korea c. e Spratly Islands d. Taiwan ANSWER: a. Portugal ceded its colony of Macao to the PRC at the end of 1999, and Macao has been relatively peaceful since then. A traditional site for gambling, Macao is the only place on the Chinese mainland where casinos are permitted. ● 3 TIPS ON DOING BUSINESS IN CHINA ● Experienced travelers avow that patience is the most important skill needed to do business in China. e Chinese are very good at guring out when a foreigner is under pressure from a tight deadline, and they turn that to their advantage in negotiations. ● Although the economic boom is changing things, China is still a hierarchical society. Age is respected. When you send more than one representative to China, the oldest person should receive deference from the younger ones. e elder representative should even enter and leave the conference room rst. ● While the Chinese have made great strides in using the Inter- net, they face serious obstacles. For one thing, the thousands of ideographs in Chinese language are not easily adapted to use on a computer keyboard. Also, Internet use in China is hampered by the government, which censors Web sites and periodically shuts down Internet cafés. ● If possible, avoid traveling to China during the lunar New Year. Also called Spring Festival, this is China’s most important, nation- wide weeklong holiday. Tradition demands that every Chinese return to his or her traditional home during the lunar New Year. With so many migrants to the cities, this means that there are millions of trips taken by car, bus, train, or airplane during the festival. Cultural Note The lunar New Year puts enormous strains on China’s transportation infrastructure. Many people wait for days just to secure standing room on a train or bus. To alleviate this, the Chinese government is considering mandating staggered vacations, in the hope that travel will be eased if not everyone is off work at the same time. This may ease travel during China’s other national holidays, but it is doubtful whether it will eliminate the Spring Festival tradition of returning to one’s ancestral home. ● 3 COUNTRY BACKGROUND Demographics China has 1.3 billion inhabitants (2006 estimate), making it the most populous country in the world. One quarter of the earth’s population lives there. Although there are many minority groups, over 91 percent of the population is ethnic (Han) Chinese. China has implemented a rigorous birth control program that limits couples to only one child. History e Chinese boast the world’s oldest continuous civilization, with more than 4,000 years of recorded history. Beijing (old Peking) has been the capital of China for over 800 years and is the country’s political, economic, and cultural hub. China was ruled by strong dynasties for thousands of years. e rst recorded dynasty, the Hsia, existed around 2200 .., and the last dynasty, the Ch’ing, ended in 1911. Some of the most important cul- tural achievements in history were produced during this time, such as papermaking, the compass, gunpowder, and movable-type printing. Aer the fall of the last dynasty, Sun Yat-sen founded the Republic of China and was succeeded by Chiang Kai-shek in 1927. Mao Tse-tung’s Communist forces took control in 1949 and estab- lished the Communist government that still exists, although events— China 3 4 Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: Asia from the massacre in Tiananmen Square in June of 1989 on—have shown an increasingly popular demand for democratic reform. China has been divided into twenty-two provinces, ve autono- mous regions, and three municipalities. Type of Government e People’s Republic of China has a Communist government. ere is a single legislative house, the National People’s Congress; all members belong to the Communist Party. e National People’s Congress elects the Standing Committee, which holds executive power and is made up of the premier and leading ministers. e pre- mier is the head of the government; the president is the chief of state. e position of secretary general of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party is also an oce of great power; it is oen held by the current president. e Communist regime is highly centralized and authoritarian, and controls many aspects of life in China. Current government data can be found at the Embassy of China at www.china-embassy.org. Cultural Note The revolutionary government of the People’s Republic of China made changes to the Chinese language. Many complex symbols in written Chinese were simplified. And the direction of written Chinese was changed: instead of being written in vertical columns, it is now primarily written like most Western tongues, from left to right in horizontal rows. This reformed Chinese has not been universally accepted by the Chinese outside the PRC. Some Taiwanese refuse to reform Chinese, preferring the pre-revolutionary forms. When you go to the PRC, make sure your translators use reformed Chinese. Language e ocial national language is standard Chinese, based on the Mandarin dialect. It is spoken by more than 70 percent of the popu- lation. Many Chinese speak Cantonese, Shanghainese, and Kejia dia- lects. Ethnologue, at www.ethnologue.com, recognizes 202 languages. Each minority speaks its own dialect or language. English is spoken by many businesspeople. Although spoken Chinese has many dialects (some of which are as dierent as English is from German) there is one common written language. is is why many Chinese movies include Chinese sub- titles, so that Cantonese-speaking Chinese audiences can understand the Mandarin-speaking actors, or vice versa. e government of the PRC has begun investing in Chinese lan- guage training for foreigners. Contributions to support Chinese lan- guage programs are being made to major trade partners worldwide. Cultural Note Of all its trading partners, China’s relationship with Japan is one of its most contradictory. The government of the PRC is always ready to criticize Japan for any real or imagined offense, from Japan’s cozy relationship with Taiwan to Japan’s failure to be properly abashed for its military actions in China before and during the Second World War. Yet, in 2004, China surpassed the USA as Japan’s largest trading partner. Their trade continues, despite such real conflicts as both countries claiming the same offshore oil fields, or a Chinese submarine being detected in Japanese waters in November of 2004. The Chinese View Despite the fact that the government encourages atheism, the Chinese Constitution guarantees religious freedom (within certain constraints). Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity are the three major formal religions practiced in China. However, even larger numbers of Chinese believe in traditional Chinese philosophies, notably Con- fucianism and Taoism. Confucianism, although not a religion with a divine deity, has great inuence on Chinese society. Confucius was a Chinese scholar and statesman who lived during feudal times over 2,000 years ago. He established a rigid ethical and moral system that governs all relationships. Confucius taught that the basic unit of society is the family. In order to preserve harmony in the home, certain reciprocal responsibilities China 5 6 Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: Asia must be preserved in relationships. ese relationships are between ruler and subjects, between husband and wife, between father and son, between elder brother and younger brother, and between friends. Since all but the last are hierarchal, rank and age have historically been very important in all interactions. All actions of the individual reect upon the family, and lial devotion is of utmost importance. e virtues of kindness, propriety, righteousness, intelligence, and faithfulness have also been deeply revered. ■ * Know Before You Go Most foreign businesspeople in China’s major cities will find an environment comparable to that of any city in the industrially developed world. The greatest hazards are from traf- fic and environmental pollution. China’s less-developed areas present greater challenges. The transportation infra- structure is overloaded, and some foreign goods (including medicines) may not be readily available. China is thought to be the source for many forms of influenza that eventually infect people all over the world. It is theorized that this happens not just because of China’s unsurpassed population density, but because of Chinese farming techniques, which allow animals of different species to come into close contact. This is believed to facilitate viral transfer between species, eventually resulting in a virus which infects humans. Cer- tainly, anyone who has visited an outdoor Chinese market will see different species of live animals on sale. The Chinese government recently prohibited such markets from selling civet cats, which were suspected to be the source of the SARS virus. China is a huge nation, subject to all manner of natural hazards. Earthquakes have caused widespread deaths in the past, but China also suffers from typhoons and other dangerous storms, floods, and mudslides. Cultural Note Rural areas in China may have limited accommodations, as well as dangers not usually associated with industrialized nations. For example, schistosomiasis (snail fever) has recently been reported in lakes in Hunan province. A debilitating disease—deadly if not treated—it is caused by a waterborne parasite and can infect humans who come into contact with tainted water for as little as ten seconds. Estimates of the number of people infected run as high as 900,000. Sadly, schistosomiasis was nearly eradicated in China in the 1950s. The return of the disease reflects China’s neglect of the countryside in favor of its flourishing cities. ● 3 CULTURAL ORIENTATION Cognitive Styles: How the Chinese Organize and Process Information e Chinese are generally circumspect toward outside sources of information. ey usually process data through a subjective perspec- tive, derived from experience—unless they have been educated at a Western university. Universalistic behavior that follows the Commu- nist Party line is still required under the Communist government. e favoritism shown to members of the Communist Party is overtly particularistic. Negotiation Strategies: What the Chinese Accept as Evidence In general, truth is subjective, and one’s feelings, along with a modied belief in the Communist Party line, are primary sources of the truth. Facts are accepted by younger Chinese, particularly within the burgeoning entrepreneurial sector. However, they still strongly consider the other two sources, and will not usually accept a proposal if it is in conict with their personal feelings for the prospect. Value Systems: The Basis for Behavior China is still primarily a collectivistic culture dominated by the Communist Party. e following three sections identify the Value Systems in the predominant culture—their methods of dividing right from wrong, good from evil, and so forth. Locus of Decision-Making In a centrally controlled economy, responsibility rests with gov- ernment planners, but individuals are held responsible for their decisions within the system. Local decisions are made by the head of the collective, and members must behave accordingly. Collectives are insular, closed entities in which individual goals are subordinated to those of the collective. In the zones of free enterprise, businesses are experimenting with freedom from party rule but not from the collectivist way of thinking. China 7 . Ming joined the Houston Rockets in 2002, Chinese interest in basketball soared overnight. And the Beijing Olympics has gener- ated massive interest in. needed to do business in China. e Chinese are very good at guring out when a foreigner is under pressure from a tight deadline, and they turn that to their