“The Chinese Mindset”

One of the more interesting threads floating around out there this week. I won’t take sides, but I will say I completely agree with Janet and completely disagree with Joseph. With some important caveats. Check it out for yourself.

Update, via ESWN I see another excellent blog is talking about this thread.

The Discussion: 19 Comments

I am a Westerner.

I often say the Chinese will lie and steal when it comes to intllectual property rights.

Do I think this is part of a macro, Chinese mindset? YES. China wants to be number 1, and they will do anything to get there as fast as they can. They will steal what they cannot invent. China is a “copycat” nation. Look at what they did to Siemens of Germany with their magnetic train technology. China will lie and steal its way to the top. You have to admire them for their nationalism, at some level.

November 19, 2006 @ 11:28 pm | Comment

@Dave: Um…my English proficiency need not apologize

November 20, 2006 @ 1:15 am | Comment

Go ask the people of Microsoft if the Chinese steal.

Wait, this just in: China aims to be Semiconductor self sufficient in 10 years! Ok..so How will China achieve this in 10 years? Answer:

CAN YOU SAY STEAL AND COPY EVERY SEMICONDUCTOR PATENT THEY CAN FIND?

CHINA IS A RULE BREAKER NATION, NOT A RULE MAKER NATION

November 20, 2006 @ 1:19 am | Comment

@IVAN:

Be happy. I actually like your posts most of the time.

You are insightful and have a lot to offer on a number of topics.

Regards,
Ames Tiedeman

November 20, 2006 @ 1:21 am | Comment

Uh, Richard? In his comments, Joseph more or less agrees with Janet. The difference between them seems to have been mostly a misunderstanding about whether she agreed with the common assertion “Chinese lie and cheat”. To be fair, this was partly because Dan wrote:

” Ms. Carmosky did say that Westerners often say Chinese lie and steal, but in explaining why this is the case, she seemed to be agreeing.”

Janet then posted and clearly did not agree with this sentiment, which was what Joseph was opposed to in the first place.

If you go back and reread the thread, Joseph and Janet are not really coming from opposite sides. There was just a miscommunication of her views, and she was good enough to post a comment clarifying that.

November 19, 2006 @ 11:04 pm | Comment

@Ames: Ah, yes, the great Siemens Train Robbery. I remember exactly when 1.3 billion people simultaneous marched into Siemens Shanghai office, collapsing the building into a pile of fine dust and killing several hundred million Chinese people in the process. What a tragedy. If only THEY didn’t all act the same, then THEY wouldn’t suffer such calamities. Of course THEY aren’t individual people, THEY are THEY. They they they theythey they they.

I suggest you learn how to properly use a pronoun, Ames.

November 20, 2006 @ 12:48 am | Comment

Dave, please pronounce it correctly: “dey”, as in,
“dem Polacks, dey do da Polish disco. Dis go here and dis go dere, dis go here and dis go dere.”

Dat’s what dey do.

November 20, 2006 @ 12:56 am | Comment

@Chip:

Exactly. I am not saying all Chinese are encouraging Piracy, but it is clear to me that it is part of the Chinese psyche at this given point in time.

November 20, 2006 @ 8:59 am | Comment

Ain’t dat da druth.

November 20, 2006 @ 1:06 am | Comment

HAHAHAHAHAHA!

Oh god, what a dick.

November 20, 2006 @ 1:19 am | Comment

@Ivan: “Oh god, what a dick.”

ain’t dat da druth.

November 20, 2006 @ 1:44 am | Comment

I tend to agree with Ames. I know stereotypes are politically incorrect, but we all know that to some extent, they wouldn’t exist if they weren’t true. China is a nation that encourages piracy. Whether or not that means all Chinese are like that is less certain, but the problem is there, and we all know it.

November 20, 2006 @ 8:15 am | Comment

Of course all Chinese aren’t cheats and liars. It’s not a matter of whether the Chinese are all cheats and liars so much as whether the ones with power, money and influence are. Whether the guy in Gansu is likely to steal his neighbour’s carrots or copy his cart technology is of little consequence on the World stage.

November 20, 2006 @ 10:24 am | Comment

Ames wrote:
@Dave: Um…my English proficiency need not apologize

Wrong again, it should read: “my English proficiency needs not apologize”.

November 20, 2006 @ 11:16 am | Comment

Plse do allow me
My English proficiency needs no apologies.

Ames

This mindset is not strictly Chinese but very Third World. In the less developed parts of Asia,Africa,South America, Central America, and Eastern Europe copy rights theft are rampant.
Think Japan in the 50s and 60s, South Korea 70s and even the 80s. But you cannot say these copyrights theft are prevalent in both Japan and S Korea. They now understand have a vested interest in having and more importantly enforcing these copyright laws as I believe they are also having a thriving software industry hence the need to protect this sector of the economy. The time will come when China and other less develop countries mature to this particular stage of their economy.

The Chinese mindset of cheating and stealing , there are many balck swans out there to disprove this claim.

November 23, 2006 @ 11:11 am | Comment

Ivan

Laughing at another’s English proficiency when it is obviously not their first language is not very nice. Try us in your Mandarin or Malay and your will be laugh out of here.

November 23, 2006 @ 11:14 am | Comment

Flabbergasted,

You’ve got the wrong end of the stick. Ivan and Dave weren’t making fun of second language speakers of English. They were teasing Ames for the stereotypical crap that he espoused time and time again when it came to anything to do with China. Ames is the kind of person who believes that Chinese people all speak English with a funny substandard accent. And that’s the point that Ivan was trying to make. No more, no less.

Sometimes humour doesn’t carry very well across culture. Take it from another second language speaker of English (even though I’m hardly a typical example).

November 23, 2006 @ 12:25 pm | Comment

deleted for using a false email address

November 26, 2006 @ 3:47 pm | Comment

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