Big Lychee, Various Sectors

More Hong Kong cultural facilities are closing: the President Theatre in Causeway Bay, and concert and other spaces at the KITEC building in Kowloon Bay. And developers might scrap a planned non-profit performing arts space at a new project in Causeway Bay…

…last month, [Hysan and Chinachem] announced that they could be forced to drop the cultural space in favour of a park because the Lands Department will charge a commercial land premium for an arts and cultural venue. 

The cinema will presumably become stores selling luxury garbage no-one wants, while KITEC will be replaced by office blocks, as if we don’t have enough empty office space already. And developers apparently panting with desperation to promote culture should always be treated with suspicion.

But the three stories are a reminder of the never-ending absurdity of making space as expensive as possible. The Caroline Road case specifically reminds us that it is hard to have ‘nice things’ in Hong Kong urban areas because the government requires developers to pay land-development rights – ‘premiums’ – for attractive features or facilities. 

One small but illustrative example is a walkway from a large office block over a multi-lane highway to a shopping mall in Admiralty, which in turn links to more walkways to other parts of the district. Rather than just walking directly into the mall, users must go down outdoor stairs, into the mall’s street-level entrance, then back up an escalator to continue elsewhere. The landlord (I heard) refused to build an entrance off the walkway because the government demanded a premium. 

The premium serves as an up-front, one-off tax on the increased profits the landlord could earn. In the Admiralty case, there are no profits, nor tax revenue – just inconvenience for pedestrians. The obvious answer would be to simply collect recurrent taxes on higher profits as the landlord makes them. But bureaucrats are obsessed with collecting big premiums (which, perversely, are earmarked for infrastructure projects, however unnecessary.)

Because of this, bureaucrats see concessions on premiums as a subsidy, which in effect they are; not surprisingly, developers have a long tradition of abusing such giveaways. For example, the government offers a lower premium, but in return the developer must provide some public space – and then when the new building is opened, that space is mysteriously hard to find and/or leased out to a business. Bureaucrats and developers are trapped in a cycle of urban-planning assholery, and Hongkongers end up with a nasty living environment. (We’ll leave the Transport Bureau to one side here.)

When they’re not issuing blood-curdling warnings about national-security threats in our midst, senior local and Beijing officials insist Hong Kong must ‘focus on the economy’ and embrace a ‘new mindset’. Every time, I wait to hear how they will abandon this stupid land policy. Because if you really want to reinvigorate the economy, you need to break away from the system that lets landlords capture so much of the wealth – and that’s where you’d start. Until then, talk of focus and mindsets is empty.

HKFP op-ed on the so-called smears wantonly slandering despicable shameless and malicious hypocrisy that’s doomed to fail in government press releases responding to overseas criticism of NatSec laws…

The new language began creeping into Hong Kong official communications in July 2019…

The change in the government’s official language requires an explanation. I speculate that the central authorities now require it of official Hong Kong communication on some topics in some situations.

Either that or Ronald the Deputy Sub-Assistant Government Information Services Officer scratched his head one day and thought ‘hmm – let’s try this’. 

Either way, the startlingly excessive language does not exactly convey cool confidence. The article quotes Regina Ip as having misgivings about the enraged warrior-like wording, which is especially frequent in English-language press statements. (Reg studied Elizabethan literature for her Master’s degree, so is better qualified than most in this field.) She speculates that foreign criticism might die down after the Jimmy Lai trial comes to end. This sounds almost like an implicit admission of unease about that prosecution. In the original Ming Pao interview (here), she also says… 

“…It is important for you [the media] to report whether we (legislative council members) spoke or raised our hands,” stressing that the council should not be lazy because there is no opposition.

Another – explicit – admission of the current state of things.

Sean Tierny in the Hongkonger looks back at the 1990 Mainland-cop-in-Hong-Kong comedy film Her Fatal Ways, starring Do Do Cheng. It was a different time…

…members of a Chinese delegation to Hong Kong complained that the film, “a comedy mocking characters of the PRC public security bureau”, was “allowed to be shown”.

The Audit Commission finds some easy pickings: public bodies failing to include NatSec provisions in their paperwork…

The watchdog said the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education (HKAGE), an NGO fully funded by the government, had not established any measures to safeguard national security.

Such measures were also missing from…

…Hongkong’s Post contracts with stamp designers, the Department of Health’s contracts with an institution to provide dental services for the elderly, and the Transport Department’s contracts for buses for rehabilitation services.

Director of Audit Nelson Lam said in an interview with Ming Pao in February that some government departments and public organisations “completely disregarded” the national security law after it was enacted.

Good to see we are alert to national security threats lurking among providers of dental services to the elderly.

RFA on patriotism in Hong Kong schools…

…Teachers at [a NT] school have been warned “not to directly or indirectly encourage or acquiesce in students’ participation in any off-campus political activities,” according to the report, a copy of which is available on the school’s website.

…The Kowloon Technical College has also been checking its library, and has banned seven books, according to its report for last academic year.

“On March 15-16, 2023, the vice principal, director of reading promotion and the library director inspected the library collection and found a total of seven books containing political propaganda,” the report said.

The Christian Alliance Cheng Wing Gee College requires its teachers to upload any teaching materials to the school’s intranet for approval before using them in class, while teachers are focusing on “boosting national and ethnic pride” as a natural part of the day-to-day curriculum, according to its report.

Meanwhile, students at the Tai Po Baptist Public School have been attending Chinese national flag-raising ceremonies on designated days to establish “correct values ​​and patriotic feelings.”

…Students who are deemed to have violated national security laws, which include clauses forbidding public criticism of the Hong Kong and Chinese governments, or any non-critical mention of the pro-democracy movement, will be counseled, punished or have their parents called in, depending on the seriousness of the alleged offense, the reports said.

And the government responds at great length to more foreign criticism of the Article 23 law…

…strongly opposed the so-called resolution adopted by the European Parliament against Hong Kong, and strongly condemned the Parliament for making baseless allegations about Hong Kong and smearing the Hong Kong National Security Law (NSL) and the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance (the Ordinance)…

…”…the Parliament has demonstrated typical political hegemony and hypocrisy with double standards.”

…”Following the successful enactment of the Ordinance, the shortcomings in the legal system and enforcement mechanisms for the HKSAR to safeguard national security are addressed. We must once again emphasise that the Ordinance is a piece of legislation to defend against external forces that endanger our national security, acting like a sturdier door and a more effective door lock to defend our home. The HKSAR Government strongly urges the European Parliament to stop smearing and interfering in Hong Kong affairs which are internal affairs of China and ensure that their remarks concerning the NSL and the Ordinance are fair and just, and stop making scaremongering remarks”… 

Over two years after being arrested, Chow Hang-tung, Albert Ho, and Lee Cheuk-yan hear that their trial for ‘inciting subversion of state power’ (June 4 vigil) will not take place until next year. Chow and Lee have been in jail the whole time.

A little weekend reading…

Asia Review of Books on a new work about the original Chinese TV chef.

And the Diplomat looks at moves to replace Mongolia’s Cyrillic alphabet – introduced by the USSR – with its pre-1940s Bichig, derived from a Uighur alphabet that had common ancestry with Arabic and Hebrew scripts. The writer sees this as strengthening cultural ties with China (though Beijing has been replacing Mongolian and Uighur with Chinese in its own ethnic-minority schools)…

On the whole, the history of Mongolian script reform and official foreign language education is not about a natural process of cultural evolution, but an artificial political project. Political decisions ultimately determine the type of alphabet to be used. In the long run, then, Ulaanbaatar’s efforts to strengthen the restoration of bichig while promoting English education may directly or indirectly affect Moscow’s and Beijing’s policies toward Mongolia.

The first thing I see this morning on Twitter – in other words, the first thing I see this morning – is a newspaper cover. A vivid reminder of the glorious horror that is a free press, and specifically of Apple Daily. The Daily Star (Scotland edition), with the headlines: ‘Greasy fry-ups will turn us into zombies’, ‘Britain’s hardest seagull is a wuss’, and ‘All you’ll ever need to know about marshmallows’ – plus an ad for discount Coca Cola.

I recently went to the Museum of Coastal Defence for a last look before it gets ‘rectified’ later this year, after which it will be renamed the Hong Kong Museum of the War of Resistance and Coastal Defence. A before-and-after comparison will be interesting. It’s not about what new exhibits they add (it already has displays on pre-colonial forces, the East River Column and the PLA), so much as what, if anything, they remove. A lot of the equipment, uniforms and posters are very much British-era, and not exactly in keeping with today’s patriotic emphasis. 

The munitions alone are worth a look – from 10-inch naval gun shells, to mortar bombs, to hand grenades, to anti-aircraft rounds, to .303 bullets – plus the 1890s ‘Brennan’ guided torpedo.

The trial begins of a group accused of planning a terrorist bombing and shooting attack in 2019. Interesting because: while authorities have announced the discovery of bomb-making and similar activities, the cases rarely seem to come to court; and this prosecution is outside the NatSec sphere – so there will be a jury.

Not sure if this is all sub judice, but Nury Vittaci sees fit to write a lengthy Twitter post asserting that the alleged terrorists were paid by the CIA, trained in Taiwan (crossbows!) and plotting ‘regime change’. Lots of tedious tanky stuff – but if the PRC had a shred of evidence that the US was attempting to engineer a violent overthrow of the Hong Kong/Chinese authorities, it would have broken off diplomatic relations with Washington.  

Another Twitter thread by ex-District Council member Michael Mo – now in the UK – on the academic credentials of pro-Beijing industrialist ‘Dr’ Aaron Shum (bio here), who reportedly helped introduce the Dubai prince’s family office plans to Hong Kong officials. Some extracts…

On Wiki, Shum has been listed as a PhD at Southern Pacific University … in St. Kitts & Nevis and Belize. 

…SPU has been named an unaccredited institution of higher education, aka Diploma Mills! 

…SPU’s President Geoffrey Taylor is allegedly linked up with arms sales, drug deals and tax fraud [citation].

There’s quite a lot more (insurance companies, Greater Bay Area, Malaysia, etc).

(See also Elizabeth Quat.)

Want more stuff from Twitter? A post reporting on a talk at HKU – Accounting for the Rise of Nativism (Localism) in Hong Kong and Its Impact on Pro-democracy Sentiment 1997-2022: A Quantitative Analysis.

Some mid-week reading…

Cardinal Zen/Chan, Margaret Ng, Denise Ho et al are to challenge their conviction for not registering the 612 Fund (hearing in January next year).

An outlet called Providence fears for the independence of the Catholic church in Hong Kong…

The Hong Kong Diocese is collaborating with PRC authorities to achieve the Sinicization of religion, incorporating socialist values into the church’s teachings and diminishing the role of the Pope. Additionally, the PRC is moving to take over the administration of church institutions and now expects sermons to promote adherence to socialist values and acceptance of Beijing’s laws. Social actions, such as support for human rights and social justice causes, will no longer be permitted. Furthermore, the curriculum of religious schools is now integrated with national identity-based curricula. 

The BBC on Hong Kong soccer and anthems…

“We were certainly put under pressure by the Hong Kong SAR [Special Administrative Region] Government to do everything we could to stop [booing of the PRC anthem],” [former HKFA boss Mark Sutcliffe] says.

“We ran publicity campaigns. We introduced more stringent security at matches, including searches and confiscation of banners. We couldn’t stop it altogether and the upshot was that we were fined by Fifa several times.”

In 2020 Hong Kong’s legislature also took measures, passing a bill that criminalised disrespect to the anthem – with a maximum prison sentence of three years.

Even so, in the first home game open to the public since the introduction of the new law in September 2022, the national anthem was again booed by sections of the crowd before kick-off against Myanmar.

Three months later, the 83 sporting associations in Hong Kong were told that they had to add “China” to their names or risk losing funding. About three-quarters had not previously done so.

Football fans flocked to buy the last batch of shirts that still had the former Hong Kong logo, before the word “China” was added to the dragon crest.

From AP a few weeks ago – a sensible look at the politics involved in researching Covid origins (mercifully light on the ‘lab leak’ obsession)…

Crucial initial efforts were hampered by bureaucrats in Wuhan trying to avoid blame who misled the central government; the central government, which muzzled Chinese scientists and subjected visiting WHO officials to stage-managed tours; and the U.N. health agency itself, which may have compromised early opportunities to gather critical information in hopes that by placating China, scientists could gain more access, according to internal materials obtained by AP.

The BBC on China’s sinking cities…

Nearly half of China’s major cities are sinking because of water extraction and the increasing weight of their rapid expansion, researchers say.

“In China there are lots of people living in areas that have been fairly recently sedimented, geologically speaking. So when you take out groundwater or you drain the soils, they tend to subside.”

East is Read summarizes two recent pieces by opposing Chinese commentators on the country’s future relations with the US – one by a level-headed academic, the other by a nationalistic blogger.

Sixth Tone asks a Chinese academic whether Marco Polo really visited so many parts of the Mongol Empire.

The Guardian on the Taiwan government’s plans to remove more statues of Chiang Kai-shek.

Remember Hong Kong John Lee’s recent warning…

“Foreign intelligence officers and their proxies would use different industries as disguise … Spies may marry and raise a family just like an ordinary citizen, and only commit acts of terrorism or theft of state secrets after years [of hiding].” 

National Security Education Day wasn’t confined to Hong Kong…

In a slick video marking the National Security Education Day, China’s top spy agency has a stern message for Chinese people: foreign spies are everywhere.

As ominous music plays, a broad-faced, beady-eyed man disguises himself as a street fashion photographer, a lab technician, a businessman and a food delivery driver – he even sets up an online honey trap – to glean sensitive state secrets in various places and industries.

“In the sea of people, you may have never noticed him. His identity is changeable and his whereabouts are hard to find,” a narrator says. “They are everywhere, cunning… and sneaky, and they may be right here in our lives.”

Eventually, Chinese police catch the spy in a dramatic ambush after state security authorities receive multiple tip-offs from the public.

“They can disguise as anyone. But among the crowds you and I together are protecting national security,” the narrator concludes. “We 1.4 billion people are 1.4 billion lines of defense.”

Hong Kong’s Justice Secretary denies that the authorities have refrained from arresting people in the first month of the local Article 23 NatSec Law to avoid spreading alarm. He says the new legislation will be used only in ‘really compelling circumstances’.

The FT reports that German pharmaceuticals inspectors are refusing to go to China for fear of being arrested for espionage, adding to shortages of drugs supplies.

And behold the teachers’ resource kit for primary-level English with NatSec. The main chapter headings are: Cherishing Food, Chinese Dance and Culture, Saving Endangered Animals, and China’s Space Exploration. 

The Cherishing Food subject covers ‘food security’ – plus Professor Yuan Longping and the Qinling Mountains and Huai He. In the part on dance and culture, a supposed magazine article asks ‘Why do people eat mooncakes?’

Not sure whether primary-level kids need to know these things – or whether their parents will think it can help kids succeed in their missions to become doctors or lawyers. But at least I learnt something. (Renowned hybrid-rice agronomist whose curiosity, devotion, perseverance, diligence and selflessness left an unforgettable spiritual treasure to us all, and the line that separates rice- and wheat-growing regions of China. None the wiser on mooncakes.)

All this serves as an important reminder: the third season of Spy X Family should be released in October, and meanwhile there’s the movie to look forward to.

Lawmaker Paul Tse adds a disclaimer to his Facebook page, saying criticism of the government is intended to be constructive, not to ‘incite hatred’ or anything. He is presumably pre-empting the new breed of all-patriot types out there who will denounce anyone and everyone to prove their loyalty. Will it convince those zealots? More to the point, would it persuade NatSec police dedicated to exposing new threats? 

Should we all do this now? Maybe get it printed on T-shirts. (Not sure I like the new look up there. Should get around to doing a new one.)

A Japanese academic in the Diplomat asks what comes next after the Article 23 law…

Viewed objectively, one struggles to discern any national security loopholes in Hong Kong that needed to be closed with quite that degree of urgency. After all, in 2020, the Chinese government had enacted powerful legislation called the Law of the People’s Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (National Security Law), after which it began to round up anti-government activists. The pro-democracy newspaper Apple Daily was shut down. The electoral system was altered, and pro-democracy parties were all but expelled from Hong Kong politics. Anti-government political activities, social movements, and even public discourse have already been extinguished. Indeed, some observers argue that this latest law was not required at all, given the existence of the National Security Law.

…Under British rule, Hong Kong experienced six months of violent riots in 1967, which led to the arrest of many young people. However, the government subsequently regretted for the lack of governance that sparked the anti-government movement, granted amnesty to those arrested, and established a golden age during which it earned the support of the people by eradicating corruption and expanding welfare in 1970s.

In contrast, the Safeguarding National Security Bill was applied for the first time on March 25, 2024, just two days after it became law, stipulating that a national security prisoner may not be granted early release, effectively extending the sentences of young people already in prison for such crimes.

For Hong Kong to be able to focus fully on economic development, it will need to improve its relations with the West and restore local trust in government. This latest law looks to be a move in the opposite direction.

Saudis are visiting Hong Kong to raise interest in a planned city that would stretch 105 miles across the desert, ultimately having a population of nine million. It would be that long because it’s only a few hundred yards wide. (Amazed Donald Tsang or Carrie Lam didn’t think of a reclamation this size and shape.) Basically, a narrow strip of skyscrapers running like a wall through wilderness, rejecting the obvious advantages of cities built in two horizontal dimensions, like convenient connections between different clusters of economic and cultural activities.

So idiotic, it obviously won’t happen. (Clue: a US$1.5 trillion price tag.)  This is to urban planning what blockchain is to bank transfers. Maybe they heard about the welcome extended to Dubai princes talking of family offices and decided it’s worth a try.

A pro-Beijing lawmaker (guess that’s a tautology) asks a question in the Legislative Council…

”There are views suggesting that the projects funded by the Film Development Fund (FDF) are suspected of containing ‘soft resistance’ and negative energy, and lacking elements of ‘telling the good stories of Hong Kong’ and “telling the good stories of China,“ [Joephy] Chan said. The FDF provides funding for small-to-medium budget film productions.

The lawmaker asked how authorities were vetting funding applications and what proportion of films supported over the past five years carried “positive thinking.” She also asked if the authorities would consider “telling good Hong Kong stories” and “telling good China stories” when vetting funding applications to “promote the best side of Hong Kong.”

She is especially worried about a film in which the police wrongly accuse someone.

In the manner of civil service replies to members’ questions since time immemorial, the Leisure, Culture, Etc Bureau’s reply studiously avoids either accepting or rejecting – let alone answering – the substance of her question. This might not continue for much longer, if bureaucrats feel a need to prove their loyalty in the battle against ‘soft resistance’, etc.

Interestingly, legislators’ questions criticizing government expenditure do not seem to count as ‘soft resistance’. Among recent examples: the T4 highway in Shatin, the cost of ‘light public housing’, and even ‘mega-events’. Perhaps someone at a senior level sees this as a useful way to give the all-patriots LegCo some credibility – and pressure the administration to balance the budget.

Some weekend reading and viewing…

An exhibition on ‘Hong Kong freedom fighters’ at the Leeds, England City Museum…

Located in the Community Corridor on the second floor of the museum, the exhibition presents a compelling collection of narratives, artifacts, and multimedia displays. Through these mediums, visitors are transported into the heart of Hong Kong’s struggle for freedom and the courageous individuals who have dared to fight for their rights.

From personal accounts of hardship to historical artifacts symbolizing resilience, the exhibition provides a comprehensive look at the challenges faced by Hong Kongers seeking refuge in the United Kingdom. Each display serves as a poignant reminder of the unwavering spirit and determination of those who have embarked on this remarkable journey.

Will this warrant an angry response from the relevant organs?

China Media Project looks at the pitfalls awaiting unwary ‘influencers’ (online video bores) who try to win clicks/ad revenues/freebies by ‘telling the China story well’…

To be the focus of accusations of negative foreign influence in China is a strange turn of fortune for Heyden, who since at least 2021 has frequently expressed opinions that align with the messaging of the Chinese Communist Party — for example, denying Taiwan’s right to self-determination and defending human rights abuses in Xinjiang.

…Attacks on Heyden are not what Beijing would like to see. They’ve taken great care to nurture foreign personalities willing to promote official viewpoints abroad. Former Global Times editor Hu Xijin argued when he weighed in on Weibo that Heyden’s stellar record of “defending China in the field of international public opinion” should earn her more tolerance, and that having her attacked from both sides would only make “Western public opinion applaud gleefully.”

From the Jamestown Foundation – How China manages public memories in order to push its own narrative by co-opting elites in Kyrgyzstan. 

Totally off-topic – The Grateful Dead Movie (1985, roughly) is now on the band’s YouTube channel. Guaranteed free of ‘soft resistance’.

Your tax dollars at work…

Carrie Lam’s private concierge/secretariat expenditure last year came to…

…HK$5.67 million on “rent and related expenses” … while remuneration for staff cost HK$2.86 million and daily operations cost HK$640,000.

Lawmaker Michael Tien suggests buying her a whole floor at the Great Eagle Centre, pointing out that the view is nice.

The government is spending HK$3.75 million a month on maintaining empty pandemic isolation facilities. Officials are apparently preparing the sites for alternative uses, though they clearly have a phobia about using them for housing.

And it spent HK$1.2 billion on last year’s District Council elections, which saw a turnout of just 28% (with only 88 of 470 seats returned by popular vote – and only ‘patriots’ could run.)…

The sum was 91.8 per cent more than the HK$635 million spent on the 2019 election. The government told lawmakers back in March 2019 that only HK$7.5 million had been set aside for a three-stage promotion campaign for that year’s election.

…HK$122 million was attributed to publicity.

The bureau told lawmakers in January that for the publicity drive more than 1.5 million posters and leaflets were printed, about 4,000 adverts were placed on public transport, nearly 99,000 bunting rows were hung up and 359 large billboards were set up.

…In the 2019 poll, 95 per cent of the seats were returned by popular vote. The pro-democracy bloc won 392 out of 452 seats amid the height of the social unrest. The election also saw a record turnout of 71.23 per cent.

No opposition candidate was able to obtain sufficient nominations to run in the 2023 poll.

Nearly 99,000 bunting rows.

The electronic poll registration system, which crashed, cost HK$45 million. The government is budgeting HK$380 million for next year’s Legislative Council elections…

…the Registration and Electoral Office plans to increase their manpower by 16 despite having no election this year.

“The REO plans to create 22 additional civil service posts. With six posts to be abolished this year, the net increase of posts is 16,” Wang said. “These posts are mainly used for carrying out relevant preparatory work for the Election Committee Subsector By-elections and Legco election next year.”

Probably a more interesting workplace than the REO, the Response and Rebuttal Team – which counters ‘misinformation and slanders’ about the NatSec laws – is to become permanent, though the budget is secret. NatSec expenditure is…

…not disclosed to prevent people “guessing” what the government’s national security work entails.

Director of the Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office Xia Baolong’s comments on Monday included this on Hong Kong’s economic future…

“We cannot use the old perspective from yesterday to look at today’s new situation. We cannot use the old mindset from yesterday to solve today’s new problems,” he said.

“We need to unite and look ahead, use new mindsets, new solutions and new paths to tackle problems. We must dare to say words that have not been said by our predecessors, and do things that have not been done by our predecessors.”

The SCMP finds various commentators, few of whom agree on what Xia means. Here are five…

“The central government is indeed worried about Hong Kong’s economic situation,” Lau said. “So, it must encourage and supervise the government and all walks of life in Hong Kong. This is also to spur the government.”

…“At this moment, the Hong Kong government is lacking new thinking because our officials were trained to work in an industrialised society and financial society. But now we need new talent to work in a digital society with new industries.”

…“Xia’s remarks are the clearest indication that Beijing will have a more hands-on approach to Hong Kong affairs and will give the Hong Kong government orders directly and straightforwardly on what it should do…

…“In the new era, most companies with high market value are focused on innovation,” Lee said. “But we are still talking about property prices and the housing market.”

…“It is unfair to say the Hong Kong government relies too much on traditional advantages as many are the economic cornerstones nurturing different sectors, such as finance and logistics,” [a fifth] said.

Hong Kong should make more effort to “regain its charm in connecting China with the world beyond the inward integration push with the Greater Bay Area”, he argued.

How about ‘we’ll make it up as we go along’?

One specific economic policy is on the way: tax concessions for family offices setting up in Hong Kong. Subsidies from (mostly) poorer local residents to multi-multi-millionaire non-Hongkongers.

A couple of mid-week links…

Think the hippy trail ended half a century ago? The Guardian on Mainlanders seeking an alternative life in Chiang Mai.

A Twitter thread on the idea that in ‘collectivist’ (typically Asian) cultures, people work together rather than compete like ‘individualist’ Westerners…

…collectivists are MORE competitive than individualists. They just compete more covertly than up front. 

…collectivists (Chinese, Japanese, Indians, Thai, Ghanians) are more likely to withhold information during negotiations, have frenemies than real friends, hold zero-sum beliefs, compare themselves to others, feel bad about themselves when their friends succeed.

Sounds like our old friend kiasu.

In one study, @shlulu asked Americans and Chinese to imagine themselves competing for an acting role, and anticipate what other actors would do. 38% of Chinese responses fell in unethical/gray areas (“poison other actresses’ food”, “sleep with the director”) vs.16% Americans.

…In cultures that demand social harmony, people use tacit strategies to compete against others. This social vigilance is a consequence of collectivism, rather than the exception.

Includes a link to the author’s academic study.