Quite an interesting read from NY Times this week-end: an article from David Barboza entitled “My Time as a Hostage, and I’m a Business Reporter“. In the article David Barboza describes how he was held hostage in a toy factory for pursuing a story on recalled toys. In the article he brings to light the immense power that businessmen today have in China. As he describes it, neither the police, nor high-level local officials were able to convince the person in charge at the toy factory to release him.
I think the conclusion of the article is a bit too rushed. In a country like China, local people, whether businessmen, police or politicians, do not like to see foreigners wander around asking questions. If the factory manager wanted to send a message like “DO NOT COME BACK”, then the reporters had to be held for a while to make that message clear. And I would not say that the police and the politicians could not do anything… I would say that it was in their interest as well that the message sent was clear. Then of course, they have to be seen do their jobs, thus the arguing that took place on that day. At the end of the story, the factory people and the policemen have a dinner at the police station. Does that dinner really mean that businessmen are all powerful? Or are they all on the same side defending what they built together?
The balance of power is very complex in China today. Definitely bribery is rampant and local politicians and police have interests in many of the businesses that are being set up everyday all around China. But I think it is just a matter of priorities. The communist party could very well control all this. In the end they may be the biggest organization in the world and have ramifications in every medium and large scale businesses in China. So, why would they not control this? It may be quite simple. The biggest enemy to the Chinese government is social instability. Although corruption brings instability, it is nothing compared to what would happen if corruption was brought down, leading to the destruction of many businesses around the country and the slow down of the economy.
So to me this story just highlights the current choice of the Chinese government – maybe a conscious lack of control to achieve its greater purpose, which is to bring 1.3 billion people to a higher standard of living. Once the situation changes, it could very well be that the party will change its approach, and show that this so-called lack of control did not exist in the end. A read like “One Billion Customers” from James Mc Gregor highlights very well the important role the party plays in day-to-day business and that if the party wants to bring down somebody for the greater good of the country, that person will go down.
