National Characteristics

The Cultivation and Use of "Friends of China". Chinese officials are highly disciplined in their pursuit of PRC interests; yet as Chinese they are distrustful of impersonal or legalistic negotiations. The most fundamental characteristic of dealings with the Chinese is their attempt tо identify foreign officials who are sympathetic tо cultivate а sense of friendship and obligation in their official counterparts, and then tо pursue their objectives through а variety of stratagems designed tо manipulate feelings of friendship, obligation, guilt, or dependence.

The Chinese will go tо collect information on the opinions and personal preferences of their official counterparts, not just attitudes on political issues but personal likes as tо food and music as well. They will then use such information tо develop а sense of personal relationship. Dinnertime conversations and sight to cultivate а mood of "friendship."

When Chinese officials speak of "friendship" or identify а foreigner as an "old friend," it should be remembered that in their tradition "friendship" implies obligations as much as good personal relations. Moreover, PRC officials limit their dealings with foreign "friends" strictly tо formal occasions. Contemporary Chinese have highly mixed feelings about foreigners. On the one hand they admire the power and economic progress that they see in the West — which they seek tо gain through foreign "friendships." On the other hand, they resent China's backwardness, dependence on outsiders, and the feeling that they have been ill-treated in the past by those on whom they have relied for help in modernizing their country.

EXERCISE 4. Train your thinking and communicating.

Translate one of the passages from English into Russian using your dictionary in written form. Look through the texts. Then think over and have (guide) the conversation using the problems given below the texts in pairs.