Country Guides

Bill Fisher, a career diplomat and most recently Australia's ambassador to Canada, always had a large globe of the world in his office. A visitor will sometimes comment that the globe is turned upside down, and Fisher will say, "Not at all. Australia is always on top." This remark says a lot about the ebullient Australians, those fun-loving, competitive, and often raucous “blokes” who live in "the Land of Wonder, the Land Down Under," as Australia is described in some of its tourist advertising.

The greatest offense one can commit in communicating with a Canadian is to confuse him or her with an American. Canadians do actually like Americans, but they dislike the incessant, pervasive influences that emanate from their neighbor to the south. Former Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau once said, "Living next to the United States is like sleeping with an elephant. No matter how friendly and even-tempered the beast, one is affected by every twitch and grunt." American culture and events fill their airwaves; "acid rain" from American industrial centers pollute their forests; American products dominate their shelf space.

What developing country also has the world's second largest economy (after the United States)? The People's Republic of China — measured on a purchasing power parity (PPP) basis. Yet China today is something of an adolescent as a world economy: oversized and exuberant, in many areas underdeveloped, yet also growing faster than its motor skills can quite control.

A number of years ago, many in Hong Kong and elsewhere wondered whether this center of Asia-Pacific business communications, deal-making, and finance had any future at all. In 1984, the governments of the People's Republic of China and Great Britain signed a Joint Declaration for the return of Hong Kong to China on July 1, 1997.

India, with a population of more than 1.15 billion people, is the world’s largest democracy. But if that implies a peaceful, tolerant society that shares power and opportunity, this thriving country has hit a few speed bumps along the way.
Most countries have suffered their own share of invasions, occupations, revolutions, civil wars, and political unrest. Think of China or Korea. India is no exception.

Not long ago, an American waited for months for word from Jakarta that an important transaction had received necessary governmental clearance there. His colleagues in Jakarta were vague on the telephone and in correspondence about why the clearance was taking so long. He finally learned that one of the Indonesian links in the transaction chain had delayed paying an excise tax that was due. His colleagues had been reluctant to identify the problem in their communications for fear that any criticism of the Indonesian would be overheard or reported and might further complicate the problem — or that the reluctant link would demand more money to complete the transaction.

A top international executive of a consumer products marketing company that has been doing business in Japan for many years recently said that in dealing with the Japanese it helps to "out-Japanese them." According to this executive, diligence is the key characteristic of the Japanese. If you want to do business with them successfully, you must equal or exceed their own efforts. This means long hours, going over things time and time again, responding promptly, following up faithfully, and continually improving your products and services.

Malaysia is a unique nation of great diversity. It is endowed with a variety of natural resources, and has long been a major producer of oil and gas, tin, palm oil, natural rubber, cocoa, and hardwood. Its population is ethnically mixed, with two prominent ethnic groups, Malay and Chinese. And its government is a parliamentary monarchy with a rotating hereditary monarch; the monarch changes every five years.

New Zealand is known for its lush beauty and its abundant agricultural and dairy production — wool, meat, butter, Kiwi fruit, delicious apples, and all manner of wonderful produce. The land is New Zealand's principal resource, and the nation's character is strongly influenced by this close association of its people with the land: New Zealand is a nation of independent, self-sufficient, resourceful people.

The Philippines is a nation of contrasts struggling to form a national identity. It is a collectivist society, yet its institutions are primarily Western. It is rich in human and natural resources, yet it has a stagnating economy. Its population is well educated and possesses a high degree of literacy, yet there are large pockets of poverty. It is a working democracy, yet political and economic power is vested in the hands of a few. Unlike its adjacent Asian neighbors, Christianity is its principal religion, and English is the language of choice in business, government, and schools.

The key to understanding Singapore lies in comparing it to Hong Kong. Like Hong Kong, Singapore was founded by the British as a trading center, strategically positioned near Asia's busiest shipping routes. Its population is also primarily ethnic Chinese. And like Hong Kong, Singapore is a small territory (Singapore Island and some 57 smaller islands) with virtually no natural resources other than a deep water port.

In some ways, Koreans are similar to people from individualist cultures. They are sometimes referred to as the "Irish of the East" because their style tends to be more boisterous, emotional, and confrontational than other Asian ethnic groups. Occasional student riots and labor unrest in South Korea are vivid reminders of this national characteristic. In a business context, Koreans are often tough, emotional negotiators. They tend to be more direct in their communications than other Asians. For example, while other Asians might say "Yes" rather than "No," because they wish to avoid giving offense, Koreans will say "Yes, but . . . ."

International communications have a decidedly political slant in Taiwan, the Republic of China. From the outset of the founding of its present government — that is, from the time Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist Party lost China's civil war to Mao Zedong's Communist Party in 1949 and retreated to Taiwan — Taiwan claimed to be the true government of all of China. In earlier years, Taiwan frequently and steadfastly invoked its policy of the "Three No's" toward mainland China, the People's Republic of China: No Negotiation, No Compromise, No Contact. Today, however, the leaders of Taiwan call for open economic and cultural exchanges with the PRC and give tacit approval to Taiwan citizens increasing their contacts with mainland China through indirect investments (primarily through Hong Kong) and family visits. But the reunification of China remains high on the national agenda.

A favorite expression of Thais is "mai pen rai," meaning "never mind; it doesn't matter; everything will be all right," an expression which says much about the agreeable Thai temperament. And one of the most popular stories about Thailand is Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon, on which the musical comedy and movie The King and I were based. But let a foreigner speak admiringly of Anna and the King of Siam or The King and I, and there will be no utterance of "mai pen rai." In Thailand's constitutional monarchy the King is held in high esteem. The subject of these works was Rama IV, King of Siam from 1851 to 1868, a remarkable, farsighted leader who opened the doors of his kingdom to new ideas in science, education, and historical research. Thais deeply resent the portrayal of their beloved Rama IV in The King and I as something of a buffoon, and they hotly dispute the historical accuracy of Anna and the King of Siam.

In contrast to the great nations of Asia, the United States is predominantly a country of recently arrived settlers from all over the world. Starting with the religious outcasts who arrived on its shores in 1620, and followed by waves of English, Irish, Europeans, black Africans (who arrived as slaves), and — more recently — Latin Americans and Asians, the United States has represented an open door to opportunity and a better life. Since 1884, the Statue of Liberty has stood at the entrance of New York harbor, welcoming large numbers of new arrivals.

One of the former names of Hanoi, the historical and political capital of Vietnam, was Thang Long, meaning the Ascending Dragon, an apt name for present day Vietnam itself. This war-ravaged country is at the threshold of emerging as a new star in the Asia-Pacific economic galaxy.