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Germany’s Chinese investment problem

politico.eu

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Re: Germany’s Chinese investment problem

#91

Post by lossolo »

hiacynt wrote: post #90
timthelion wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you live in Poland? I live in Prague, and here, I'm surprised at how little people care about the foreign investment aspect of the privatization process. Even though almost everyone complains that it is corrupt, people here are mostly pro-west. The economy is strong here, and people don't see a big problem. Sure, we were among the richest countries in Europe pre WWII, but that was a long time ago, and people are n…

More Poles realise this now, but they are often frowned upon by the mainstream media (surprise, surprise - they are mostly German-owned) and called regressive, nationalistic, etc. But the trends are rather positive, we now have a government that seems to support Polish industry, and peoples' attitudes have changed. For example, there's a very popular mobile app called Pola, which tells you how much a product is "Poli…

@wowoc

Why you have created another account just to write that?

You wrote the same comment as wowoc and deleted it.

Re: Germany’s Chinese investment problem

#92

Post by weeksie »

paradite wrote: post #73
jhasse wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The difference is that if you start a discussion with Germans about Hitler, they will probably know more about it then you, because it gets taught in schools.

Yes, Germany is doing great. Not sure about US and Japan though. The last time I heard, Japanese is trying to modify their textbook to downplay its involvement in WW2: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_history_textbook_cont... How's US history lesson? Do you all get taught about the genocides of native Americans? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genocides_in_history#Americas Bottomline is, every country has its own…

Americans are taught about the atrocities visited on native Americans. I went to high school in the early nineties and we were taught all about it. Get some better info. Or, you know, actually verify the stuff you're conjecturing about.

Re: Germany’s Chinese investment problem

#93

Post by timthelion »

timthelion wrote: post #85
wowoc wrote: post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The same happened in Poland (and other countries from behind the Iron Curtain). Most stuff here has German or French owners now.

Do you live in Poland? I live in Prague, and here, I'm surprised at how little people care about the foreign investment aspect of the privatization process. Even though almost everyone complains that it is corrupt, people here are mostly pro-west. The economy is strong here, and people don't see a big problem. Sure, we were among the richest countries in Europe pre WWII, but that was a long time ago, and people are n…

I just realised that my post comes across as pro-totalitarian communism. But that wasn't my point at all. My point wasn't that I think that things were "better during communism" my point was simply to try to present the opinions of those who do understand that the pro-western privitization process was unfair.

I just think that a more moderate, slower, and fairer privitization process would have been better for the citizens of the country, and not that we should have stayed totalitarian/communist.

Re: Germany’s Chinese investment problem

#94

Post by zhte415 »

TXV wrote: post #48

[rant] I have first hand experience with this. In China there is a law which states that in certain sectors and above a certain level of "security" (guess who defines security) the supplier company must be Chinese and its legal representative must be a Chinese national. Of course this law is loosely enforced. It's not that they prevent you from doing business there. Simply it's like a gun pointed to your head. When t…

For those interested in more about the legal representative /'fa ren' (literally, legal person) there's a good overview here: http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2011/08/11/roles-and-resp...

TXV: Not a law about the role of legal representative in general, right, but that industries that are defined as 'protected' are not open to foreign owned companies?

The role of the legal representative is to represent the company in civil law. The legal representative also has a supervisor or board of supervisors, so their actions can be kept in check. This in indeed one of the main roles of the supervisor/board of supervisors: to make sure the legal representative does not run away with the company's cash.

Re: Germany’s Chinese investment problem

#95

Post by varjag »

Roritharr wrote: post #82
varjag wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are very few practical problems for foreign companies to establish, operate, and sometimes dominate in the U.S. market.

Sure, but good luck trying to sue the USG for war crimes at the ICC in Den Haag.

As opposed to "naive child" of EU? Was anyone from the UK tried at the ICC for Iraq war? Anyone from Belgium held responsible for Congo yet? I mean, they have Hague real close, shouldn't be a problem..

Re: Germany’s Chinese investment problem

#96

Post by timthelion »

lossolo wrote: post #91
hiacynt wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

More Poles realise this now, but they are often frowned upon by the mainstream media (surprise, surprise - they are mostly German-owned) and called regressive, nationalistic, etc. But the trends are rather positive, we now have a government that seems to support Polish industry, and peoples' attitudes have changed. For example, there's a very popular mobile app called Pola, which tells you how much a product is "Poli…

@wowoc Why you have created another account just to write that? You wrote the same comment as wowoc and deleted it.

Perhaps they don't want their normal screen name to be associated with pro-nationalistic views, as they are un-popular. I imagine that if I were a Pol working for a German software company, I would feel uncomfortable writing what OP just wrote under my normal screen name :P

Re: Germany’s Chinese investment problem

#97

Post by timthelion »

Create wrote: post #86
Create wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is one of the reasons why Europe is falling apart. The hidden cynical double standard always trumped good will. Brexit voters were unusually open (in a secret ballot) about east-west relationships.

Dear downvoter: The production and exports of cars, run by foreign owners, is a key driver of economic growth in the eastern European Union member where wages for skilled workers are well below Western European levels. Daimler workers in Germany, where wages are much higher, took part in strikes earlier this year, which led to a deal in May to lift wages by 4.8 percent in the metal and electrical engineering sectors…

You mean "Daimler workers in Hungary" right?

Re: Germany’s Chinese investment problem

#98

Post by GunboatDiplomat »

Roritharr wrote: post #82
varjag wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are very few practical problems for foreign companies to establish, operate, and sometimes dominate in the U.S. market.

Sure, but good luck trying to sue the USG for war crimes at the ICC in Den Haag.

That seems, at best, orthogonal to the issue of foreign investment and business.

Re: Germany’s Chinese investment problem

#99

Post by wowoc »

timthelion wrote: post #96
lossolo wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

@wowoc Why you have created another account just to write that? You wrote the same comment as wowoc and deleted it.

Perhaps they don't want their normal screen name to be associated with pro-nationalistic views, as they are un-popular. I imagine that if I were a Pol working for a German software company, I would feel uncomfortable writing what OP just wrote under my normal screen name :P

I don't have pro-nationalistic views, that's a purely economic issue to me - its result is a long-lasting drain of capital. I did feel somewhat weird after posting that though, and @lossolo caught me.

Re: Germany’s Chinese investment problem

#100

Post by MagnumOpus »

shanwang wrote: post #72
curun1r wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With all due respect... I have been there. I went on a business trip to visit our offshore development office in Beijing. A few of the devs went sightseeing with me one weekend and we ended up going to see the forbidden city. The cab dropped us off at Tienamen Square and I asked if we could spend some time there before going across the street. There was general consternation as to why I was interested in such a borin…

As a Chinese I have to say it's hard to believe “Not one of the six Chinese devs had ever seen that photo or had any knowledge of what happened there”, it's more likely they don't want to tell you what they really think. When I was in Uni, the Tiananmen square videos are all over the university intranet, including the documentary shot by Hongkong journalist and some shorter documentaries made by the west in later tim…

How many of OP's taxi drivers were savvy university graduates in your opinion?

Censorship being soft and porous does not help - it keeps the outrage from bubbling over as the 5% of smart potential leaders who could give a voice to discontent will (a) work around the censors in ways that the 95% can't or don't bother [VPN etc] and their discontent has an outlet, and (b) these 2% can be kept in line by offering or refusing career opportunities based on compliance to the mainstream party line... [if you speak out against current policy, you won't get that professorship or that managerial role or your company returns will be tax audited in a way your corrupt competitors aren't]

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