In Chapter 1, Chinese mayor and factory owner Liang Dacheng must convince his striking employees that working with the Americans is the patriotic thing to do. He tells the crowd it is their duty to “raise the triple banner of flexibility, pragmatism, and reform.” Wang Min, the leader of the protest, disagrees. “It’s a sellout!” he proclaims. (p. 21). Who is correct, in your opinion, and why? Did your opinion of Liang Dacheng change over the course of the chapter that features him?
They are both sellouts - Liang to capitalism and Wang to an ideology that is inhumane. Liang was interesting though. He could be a mob boss it tried hard enough.
Wang Min had a point that the workers deserved better treatment and shouldn’t just accept unfair conditions. At the same time, Liang Dacheng was trying to create opportunities in the long run. They were both trying to do what they thought was best, just with very different priorities.
My opinion of Liang changed a little as the book went on. I didn’t agree with his decisions, but I understood why he made them.
It’s my understanding that all international business deals in China are “joint ventures”, that is the Chinese government has joint ownership and final approval. This was the true in the late 1990s and early 2000s but might have changed by the time setting of this book. I was puzzled by this but didn’t investigate the issue.