China is seeking to engage with the West, but on its own terms. German companies are beginning to feel the effects of this policy. For instance, they note with concern that there is a growing tendency among the Chinese to blatantly demand the divulgence of industrial know-how in return for the right to do business in China. And it irritates them that China is treating traditional German industrial domains as strategic business fields.
And some Asia experts even predict that Germany's China connection could trigger the long-term demise of many icons of German industry. They warn that German companies that accept China's embrace could quickly find themselves being squeezed too tightly for their own good.
Risky Symbiosis The contradictions have even crept into the rhetoric of corporate leaders. When German senior executives are in Beijing or Shanghai, they have nothing but glowing praise for the country. But the minute they return to Munich or Düsseldorf, they complain about industrial espionage and instruct their personnel departments to avoid hiring Chinese interns at all costs.
This would never happen in an American company. We hire from all over the world, regardless of the industry. The Chinese may be stealing what they can from the Germans and reverse engineering, but the Germans are also far less politically correct than the Americans, especially in business. They will protect themselves, much more than the we did. They will still lose out, but not as fast.