"Need To Change 'The Chinese Way Of Doing Business', Which Often Ignores Ethics, Laws And Regulation

JH
John Honovich
May 20, 2018
IPVM

This is an interesting quote and analysis, especially since it comes from SCMP, the Hong Kong-based paper which is one of the most respected in Asia, "ZTE MESS SHOWS NEED TO CHANGE THE ‘CHINESE WAY OF DOING BUSINESS’", key quote:

The ZTE debacle should serve as a timely warning for all Chinese companies of the urgency and importance of taking concrete steps to introduce tight corporate compliance guidelines, particularly at a time when Chinese firms are making aggressive overseas investments following Beijing’s decision to launch the Belt and Road infrastructure initiative from Asia to Africa.

More importantly, this should highlight the sore need to change “the Chinese way of doing business”, which often ignores ethics, laws and regulations in pursuit of profits.

ZTE is the classic case of reaping what it sows.

It has interesting parallels for the video surveillance industry, especially with Hikvision and, e.g., their duplicitous tactics of denying their government ownership and control. One thing that article makes clear, that may be less obvious to Western industry people, is that ZTE behavior reflects People Republic of China (PRC) business norms which conflict with Western 'ways of doing business', where ethics and law are more stringently upheld.

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U
Undisclosed #1
May 20, 2018

And there's another aspect of ethics that I'd like to discuss.

If "everyone" is manufacturing in China (and this sentence includes other countries with similar practices), what about the ethics of those Western companies which products are built under unfair conditions, compared to those in the Western brand's country of origin.

Is there a list of Western brands showing where and under what conditions their products are made? (I think there isn't).

Do you know how to obtain that information?

 

P.D.: And, to be clear, I'm not defending bad practices with "everybody are doing it". What I'd like to do is to put pressure in my preferred brands to keep it away from doing that.

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U
Undisclosed #2
May 20, 2018

"What I'd like to do is to put pressure in my preferred brands to keep it away from doing that."

How will you accomplish this?

Avatar
Campbell Chang
May 20, 2018

What was the ZTE mess?

JH
John Honovich
May 20, 2018
IPVM

From the same article:

According to the report, the US commerce department signalled its investigation against ZTE in 2012, accusing the Chinese company of violating US sanctions by buying US components for its telecom equipment to be shipped to Iran.

But ZTE’s internal documents seized by US authorities showed that its legal department warned about the risky practices as early as 2009 and even drafted two documents afterwards but these were apparently ignored.

...

In November 2013, ZTE resumed trade with Iran and devised a scheme to evade US sanctions by selling the equipment to a third party company in Wuxi, Jiangsu province, which in turn exported to Iran. For US regulators, this was a slap in the face.

...

As part of the settlement, ZTE was required to punish employees involved in the violations but US officials said last month there were still some employees who were left unpunished.

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Avatar
Campbell Chang
May 21, 2018

I got an article about Xi Jinpings take on communism when I clicked the link.  Works now though.  Odd.

UM
Undisclosed Manufacturer #3
May 26, 2018

Watch the Netflix movie called, “The China Hustle”, and you will gain an appreciation as to why Chinese business does what it does to non-Chinese business partners. The Chinese want to get back at Western countries for destroying their empire in the 19th century by trading opium and the way it was done - try reading, “The China Mirage”. 

The Chinese have no “social contract” in their history that matches Western “ideals”, I.e. the social expectations and norms that races have towards each other - a bit like that feeling we have when someone does not “act as expected”.

But Westerners are not acting as the Chinese would expect, either. 

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U
Undisclosed #2
May 27, 2018

I've been waiting for this movie to come out in the US - and I have Netflix.

But I can't find this movie searching Netflix - and even when I found the direct Netflix link online, it is not available to me here in the U.S. :(

Release date in the U.S. says March 2018, but the only way I can currently view this movie is to pay $7 for it with my cable providers 'on-demand' service.

Netflix does allow me to vote my opinion of the movie.... even though they don't let me see it yet.    :(

U
Undisclosed #4
May 27, 2018

It's available in Canada

no problem

 

U
Undisclosed #2
May 27, 2018

one interesting nugget that is mentioned in the trailer and/or write-up of this movie is that it is not illegal in China to commit a fraud against anyone who is not Chinese.

put that in your pipe and savor the flavor.

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