In China, the distinction between about public and private isn’t very clear. I think that many people, especially the businesspeople with whom I’ve talked about this issue… Their thought is that when you’re talking about public affairs… if you only talk about official business, things get too serious, which, in the end, doesn’t seem to help people reach decisions. So they arrange for a meal and some entertainment, then, while eating or being entertained, they reach some decisions about their official business. But this is just one point of view. I think there’s another aspect to it—many professionals these days are more influenced by Western ideas, so they think that when you are talking business, you should only talk business. And so we talk only business. If [we’re meeting] about just one thing, then that’s the only thing we’ll talk about. Once we finish with it, we each go back to doing our own thing. [You] don’t mix business with your personal, personal pleasure. So I think there are two ideas about it. So I should say that I think there is a traditional perspective in China, which is that you mix business and pleasure. That’s most people’s attitude. So, like, for example, when you are negotiating, you’ll often arrange some appropriate, for example, entertainment. Then, during this entertainment, then you’ll negotiate with these officials, these businesspeople… everybody will negotiate or talk things over, while, for example, eating and drinking. In this kind of more relaxed environment, everybody comes to an agreement in the end. I think that’s how it works. | 在中国公私分明的观念呢不是非常的明确。我觉得有很多人,尤其是我和一些商人谈过这个问题。那他们的观点就是认为谈公事如果只谈公事就过于严肃,好像不太利于大家最后做出一个决定。所以他们就会安排一些吃饭哪、娱乐啊,然后在吃饭和娱乐的过程当中再去做出一些公务方面的决定。但是这是一种观点,我觉得还有另外一方面呢,就是有很多的专业人士现在也比较受西方的这些思想的影响,所以他们就会在谈公事的时候就会觉得必须只能谈公事,然后我们就只谈公事,如果是为了一件事情。那我们就只谈它,谈完了之后就结束,然后我们就各自回去做自己的事情,不能够把公事和自己的私人私人娱乐混合起来。所以我觉得是这么两种的观点吧。所以应当说在中国呢,我觉得还是那种传统的观点,就是说把娱乐和公事混合起来。这种还是比较占多数。所以象比如说很多这种谈判的时候,就会相应的安排一些,比如说呢一些娱乐活动。然后在娱乐活动的过程中呢,再和这些官员哪、商人啊大家在一起在谈判呀,或者是说商量啊,比如说,一边吃饭,一边喝酒。在这种比较轻松的环境下,然后最后大家做出一个决定。我觉得是这样子的。 |