Letting Steam Off

Seven questions interview

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

In my Beijing office

On 13 September 2020 I had a “Seven questions interview” in my office by a crew of Shenzhou Magazine.

 

The 7 questions submitted: 200913 interview_questions

I had to show and explain my “picture wall” in the office and show some of my photo picture albums. Some of the pics in the video show scenes shot in December 1980 in Changchun, and pictures of my office in the Beijing Hotel in the early eighties.
The video of the interview came out a bit later, very professional but of course with the usual clever editing removing any comments that could sound “negative”. Still well done. See further.

Entities involved:

中国产学研合作促进会
China Industry-University-Research Institute Collaboration Association
website: http://www.ciur.org.cn/
Weixin ID: ciur-china

《神州》杂志是由中国文学艺术界联合会主管、中国通俗文学研究会主办的国内外公开发行的中央大型文化新闻类旬刊。
“Shenzhou” magazine is a large-scale central cultural news magazine issued at home and abroad, hosted by the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles and sponsored by the China Popular Literature Research Association.
Weixin ID: szmag09

Interview posted

The video is on the “新创视点”public account (“New Point of View”), link:
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/9zbqv7TC3jd4EHwEoD9gXw

See here the Chinese text and an approximate translation: 200913 interview_posted

You can watch the complete video here: https://youtu.be/H4Ghb2w3JK4
(need VPN in China)

CIFTIS and expat confidence

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Loss of confidence

In an earlier post I mentioned CIFTIS and expat confidence. We have a problem.

There is a need to restore confidence in the foreign business community so there can be an efficient cooperation in the service sector. In my little group of the “Old China Hands” I get feedback from expats about discrimination, even xenophobia, against foreigners who are wrongly considered to be the “dangerous virus carriers” importing COVID-19. This is totally baseless as the vast majority of foreigners cannot return to China since March. The very few who can re-enter are subject to stringent health checks. All dangerous “imported” virus cases are from returning Chinese nationals. The government has failed to clarify this, leading to many misunderstandings. As such the “opening up” and other talk is just hot air.
In our expat community I see with sadness many abandoning China, disappointed.

How we feel in China

Also Green Card holders complain about the discrimination, being refused access to hotels, most major hospitals and even restaurants, among others. Because we are “dangerous” people. Imagine Western countries would act the same way against Chinese people. That would unleash a storm of protest.

Another issue, in Beijing, is the lack of service staff, increasing salary costs and affecting quality of service. It is an issue that does not receive any attention from authorities and neither from foreign chambers of commerce. All while many Chinese are desperately looking for a job.

See:
How coronavirus has made travel in China a whole lot harder for foreigners: Travel restrictions in China have gradually eased as the country has brought the coronavirus pandemic under control. But that has not made finding a hotel any easier for foreign residents, one South China Morning Post reporter found.
https://www.scmp.com/economy/article/3101181/how-coronavirus-has-made-travel-china-whole-lot-harder-foreigners

Nobody offers help

Embassies and foreign chambers of commerce offer no help to rectify the discrimination. We are simply ignored. Many foreigners struggle to come back but attention is paid to mostly the big companies only. Furthermore most chambers have more and more Chinese members who don’t care about foreigners and do not dare to criticize their government.

In Beijing we can actually complain about discrimination through the hotline 12345. They have English service. Most foreigners do not dare to complain however. Chinese colleagues do not help at all.

Many expats giving up on China face the trauma to recover their belongings. The Japanese again are the most creative:
10 September 2020 – Expats retrieve possessions in China through ‘remote transfer’
By ATSUSHI OKUDERA –  Correspondent Asahi Shimbun
http://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/13669804

A service that allows strangers to rifle through one’s belongings is proving popular among Japanese expatriates trying to retrieve their possessions from China during the pandemic.

China Foreign Investment Law

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

Call for comments

A major Chinese news agency asked me for my comments on the China Foreign Investment Law, in the middle of March. I tried to give a more honest approach keeping in mind the concerns of the small and medium foreign enterprises. Their voice is mostly ignored in favor of the bigger companies who have little choice but to play nice and avoid controversial remarks.
Not surprisingly, auto-censorship on the Chinese side could not let my contribution pass. Only favorable comments were welcome. And I refused to sugarcoat the issues.
It is actually not very constructive to improve the business environment if any meaningful dialogue is banned.
The most important comment I had left out: “Why is there a need for a China Foreign Investment Law anyway?” If foreigners set up a legal Chinese entity in China, why a different treatment? In the E.U. such as in Belgium no such law exists.

See the comment from the European Chamber, part of the article “European Chamber’s Stance on the Foreign Investment Law”, see https://www.europeanchamber.com.cn/en/press-releases/2937

More than anything else, foreign companies want equal treatment and opportunities, while not all of our concerns were addressed in this law, it is time to move forward. We will closely monitor the FIL’s implementation to ensure that it is fully respected at all levels of government and in all corners of this country.

My comments on the China Foreign Investment Law

See the full text here:  190315 foreigninvestmentlaw

What is acesulfame?

I already explained but just google it for more details.
The point I want to make is that this substance is not known and receives no attention. But the consequences of the ban have been dramatic for many foreign products entering China: all destroyed. You won’t read those stories in the press.

Dialogue is necessary

The European Chamber and Amcham, among others, are still keeping up their dialogue with the Chinese authorities to get rid of unfair rules and have scored progress for a range of products.
Also, the general feeling of Europeans (including me) is that China becoming a world power is not a threat as such; how it fulfills its role is another matter.

Much remains to be done to make the business environment open and fair. Indeed a painful issue is the unequal treatment of foreign businesses in general.
More about that later in other posts.

Opening of the Israel Business & Cultural Center in Beijing

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

On Sunday 28 June, as member of the Israeli Chamber of Commerce (Ischam) I joined the official opening of the IBCC in 798 Art Zone. The brand-new building serves as the office of Ischam as well as a cultural and business center. Pretty cool and there were some interesting exhibits.
The weather was, well, sauna-like but that did not deter a big crowd. Luckily I came early so I could have a quiet look-around. Also good to meet some familiar faces.


Speeches were by the Ambassador Mr. Matan Vinai, Rabbi Shimon Freundlich and Peter, the Chinese businessman behind the setup of IBCC. And others. The Rabbi also affixed the Mezuzah on the entrance of the IBCC, together with the Ambassador.

What are the worst behaviors of Chinese drivers?

Posted on by Gilbert Van Kerckhove

I found this on bbs.chinadaily.com.cn, dated 18 December 2014. It lists the 10 bad behaviors of Chinese drivers. Amusing as I guess there must be at least 100, the list is endless. Anyway, interesting view:
Editor’s note: MichaelM, our blogger from the US, sums up the most common, chaotic driving practices of Chinese drivers.
1. They will exceed the speed limit so long as there is no traffic camera in sight.
2. They will pass you like crazy on the shoulder of the road.
3. They will cut you off with mere inches to spare.
4. They will honk at you repeatedly with “seemingly” no patience at all.
5. They quickly use the lane of oncoming traffic to bypass numerous stopped cars or going slow in a traffic jam. Oncoming traffic just makes room for them, as if it is normal.
6. They will use the sidewalk if it’s convenient for them to get ahead of you.
7. They will pull out in front of you no matter the situation and expect you to stop.
8. They will cut in on you in traffic and expect you to submit and allow them to do it.
9. They do have laws very similar to ours in the West, but, they are totally disregarded. They mean nothing because there is no one to enforce them except for the traffic cameras, which are few and far between.
10. Pedestrians can be seen nearly everywhere walking in the middle of the road, with seemingly no concern for their own safety or the fact that they are holding up traffic. The drivers will honk at them and simply go around them as if nothing is wrong.
So, Michael, go back to the street and add the other 90!
Not to be surprised, Beijing traffic remains a mess, traffic police is nowhere to be seen and is totally useless. And makes pollution worse.