The Reds are masters of the Charlie Brown and Lucy foot ball trick. They say access comes by partnering with a Chinese firm and the western company should provide that firm with financing and its technology. At first it seems to go well as the early shipments of the western company's goods (here, whole trains and many components needed to start a high- speed rail line) are made and paid for. Then, the Reds say teach us how to do the assembly and parts as we will do it cheaper for you (more technology transfer). The western company agrees but says the instructions, plans and equipment we send you is proprietary so you can't use it to make the products yourself and sell it in or outside of China. The Reds act outraged that they are suspected and threaten to end the whole deal and bar the western company from further work and sales. The western co. says, "sorry" and sends the stuff.
Bingo, the western co. soon finds out its China partner or some allied Chinese co. is selling something very similar to its product in China and world wide. Complaints are made to the Chinese government, to that company's home government, world business courts, but no remedy is offered or given.
By the way, Omama & Co have dished out $8 billion to build high-speed train networks in US states and says it is open to bids from Chinese companies. I wonder if Gov. Schwarzenegger is getting a big Christmas basket from China South Locomotive & Rolling Stock Industry (Group) Corp.??
That is a flat out lie. The Chinese as a requirement to do business there require technology transfers. These companies in their lust to win short term business in China sold the Chinese the rope they are now getting hanged with.
Those idiots in Europe and Japan just don’t understand. It’s free trade... it’s good for them.
I read it here on FR years ago!
Your post nailed it. There is just simply too much past history of China pilfering western technology for any foreign company to go in and not expect that its own technology won’t also be stolen.
“they thought they’d be getting access to a booming new market, billions of dollars worth of contracts and the cachet of creating the most ambitious rapid rail system in history?”
Really? They were that niave? The Chinese cheated and re-cheated so many others, so many times, but they’ll respect us, surely...
Such is the nature of business managers of big companies. Most are basically politicians. They want a quick, sensationalist announcement of some nice joint-venture with China, then the move to the next job in a couple of years.
This has been China’s EXPLICIT policy for the past 30 years. Foreigners are allowed to do business in China in autos, airplanes, semiconductors - as long as they partner with local, Gov’t firms.
They therefore deserve what they get when they find a few years later that their technology is being used against them.
I don’t understand the thinking...
Seriesly, what did they expect? They don’t honor contracts anyway. Why do business there at all?
What’s the problem( from the Chinese side? ). They build the trains, their engineering firms manage the construction of the rails, their banks loan the dollars and make the fees, and our politicians collect the money via taxes on the backs of the servile American peasants.
They are just doing what we did around the Boxer Rebellion period( The Sand Pebbles with Steve McQueen ). Corrupt, broke Chinese government, American and European imported technology, financed by the likes of Mellon Bank( which also financed the domestic needs of manufactures) and the costs are collected by the Chinese government( with a big slice for themselves) on the backs of the Chinese presents.
When will we have our Boxer Rebellion.
1) Someone I know designed a gadget for a Chinese company.
2) The Chinese company stiffed that someone the payment.
3) The Chinese company called wanting to know how to resolve a manufacturing difficulty.
4) Someone I know demanded payment.
Hehe ...
I’m familiar with operations at one of the big entities in that market. Anyone expecting long term operating reliability from the Chinese is fooling themselves. Even the current manufacturers have problems meeting goals. Common issues are software, A/C, door operators, meeting project schedules, etc., etc.
The Washington D.C. system is a prime example. Anyone buying a Chinese system is in for a shock.
We had lots of interest from Chinese, Indian, and Pakastani companies. Didn't take long to figure out that they weren't interested as much in buying services from us as stealing our technology and methods.
China is ruthless which is why they are cleaning our wimpy clocks.
This is GM’s future. Today, GM Buicks are flying off Chinese car lots. Within 15 years, the Chinese will be building all the Buicks sold in China, and without GM involvement. They are great at piracy. They learn, steal and thrive.
We don’t take this enemy nearly as seriously as we need to for our national survival.
More proof that....you support Free Trade with Communist China....you are a Communist. And, also an Idiot.
I would love to hear the Liberal Free Trader Statist Globalist explanation for this moment of economic stupidity with Communist China.
Lets look at it from a different angle. Take the Volvo auto company in Sweden. A modern day Volvo has many of the engineering designs as a modern day GM, Ford, Volkswagon, Toyota, etc.
Yet, Sweden represents 2% (there abouts) of the auto production of the entire developed world. In fact, a GM, Ford, Toyota, VW, Volvo, etc. have more in common with each other as far as technology goes than these companies have with their own vehicles that are decades old, e.g., built in the 70's, 80's, etc.
If companies didn't somehow acquire another company's or another country's auto technology, all these automobiles would be vastly different from one another. But, in general, they are the same, in fuel efficient, quality, technological features, etc.
China is merely becoming part of the developed world and acquiring the technology to build many of the products that were previously only built in the developed world. The same way the companies of the developed world keep tabs on one another.