Facing the facts
Sociologists suggest the Chinese concept of “face” - a positive public image - islargely to blame for the growing use of bairen chong menmian.
“Face, we say in China, is more important than life itself,” Zhang Haihua, authorof Think Like Chinese, recently said in an interview with CNN. “Because Westerncountries are so developed, (Chinese) people think they are better off. So they think thatif a company can hire foreigners, it must have a lot of money and have very importantconnections overseas.
“That’s why when (a company) really wants to impress someone, they roll out aforeigner,” she said.
Business experts say the technique works at its best in less developed areas, whereseeing or talking with laowai is still something to boast about.
“I don’t like the word ‘rent’. You can only rent goods, not people,” said an employeenamed Fang with a Canada-based international energy corporation.
“We hired some foreigners on short-term contracts to represent our company and dojobs that are not worth sending our high-ranking managers to fly all the way from Canadafor, such as giving speeches or cutting ribbons at ground-breaking ceremonies.
“They are not just any foreigners, they know our business,” he insisted. “The reasonwe do that is to cut travel expanses and to let our managers do more important things.”
Fang added he does not feel laowai are superior to Chinese and believes that thenation’s “love affair with white faces” will disappear as it becomes more diverse and“internationalized”.
“All those Chinese companies that hire random foreigners as a temporary facelift arefraudsters and so are the laowai who play the parts,” he said.
Central authorities announced in May it intends to draft China’s first immigrationlaw following a surge in expats looking to take advantage of the booming economy in theworld’s most populous nation.
The law is likely to divide potential immigrants into categories, such as skilled orunskilled workers.
In the meantime, the trend of using “window dressing” looks far from dying out soon,said agency boss Liu.
“Where there is demand there is supply,” he said. “Many foreigners come to Chinawith no plan or real expertise, except being a native English speaker. Being the windowdressing is perfect for them and for my clients.”
August 27, 2010
When love no longer reigns for 'kings & queens'
‘Selfish’ post-80s couples are fueling China’s rising divorce rates.
Cui Jia in Beijing reports.
Wang Lijun looked at the red certificate handed to him only moments earlier andsighed. This simple piece of paper marked the end of almost two years of marriage.
“Obviously she is not the one for me,” said the 27-year-old of his ex-wife, Liu Yan, 26,outside a Beijing registry office. “We are not for each other and we don’t want to waste ouryouth.”
He added: “I just hope my next marriage won’t end as quickly as this one.”
China saw increases in the number of marriages and divorces in 2009 - up 9.1 percentand 10.3 percent year-on-year respectively, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Although studies suggest both trends are being fueled by the so-called post-1980sgeneration (a widely used term used for Chinese born after 1980), it is the high divorce ratethat is causing the most concern among relationship experts.
Three out of 10 marriages between post-1980s couples ended in divorce in 2009,according to the Chinese Research Association of Marriage and Family.
Arguably more worrying than the growing fragility of marriage among this generation,however, is the selfish attitudes shown by couples to their children, according to judges, whotold China Daily that many go to court because neither of them want custody.
As those born after the country’s opening up are largely from single-child families, manyhave too much egotism and are immature, said Sun Yunxiao, deputy director of the ChinaYouth and Children Research Center.
They were spoiled as “kings and queens” and are self-centered, he said, which affectstheir relationships with others.
“The reason the divorce rate is high among post-1980s couples is mainly because theyvalue their own voices and interests highly and rarely care about other people’s feelings. Theylack a sense of responsibility,” said Sun. “They are officially China’s first ‘me generation’.”
On the bright side, though, this individualism means people are more aware of equalityand have learned to cherish and protect their rights through law, he added.
Wang refuted the idea that his attitude led to the deterioration of his marriage.
“I loved my ex-wife, otherwise I wouldn’t have married her,” he said, as he studied thepicture of them together on their marriage certificate. “But it’s not all about love. Love isdifficult to maintain.”
Wang complained that his ex-wife spent every day just shopping online and spendinghis salary, did no housework and was useless in the kitchen.
Liu’s account of why they separated was almost identical, although in reverse. In herversion, instead of her being a shopaholic, she claimed Wang is an online gaming addict.
Suffer the children
When it comes to divorce, the Internet seems to play a major role. A study of more than100 divorce suits brought by post-1980s couples since 2008 found about 20 percent citedan “over-indulgence in Web games”, according to a report by the Haidian District People’sCourt in Beijing.
Online gaming addictions have led to many problems in the home, with men being themain culprits, said Gao Qing, a judge who worked on the study. Although, he noted suchhabits are usually shaped before marriage and fail to affect couples’ relationships before theytie the knot.
The court’s research concluded most post-1980s couples marry in haste and are illequippedfor married life.