China’s Massive Image Problem
As China gears up to host this year’s Summer Olympics, I can’t help but notice what a lousy image problem that the Jolly Red Giant has to contend with over the next several months.
There isn’t any getting around it — China remains a communist nation, one that is embracing capitalism at the same time. Here in the west, in the U.S. in particular, the communist side of things isn’t emphasized all that much — gee, we don’t want to hurt their feelings or have them get mad at us or something….
Anyway, back to the image problem.
The Ghost of Tiananmen Square — Inasmuch as the party leadership (Communist Party, that is) would like to forget the event, June 4, 1989 is a day that untold millions will never forget. China, in a bid to suppress a protest, turned on those demonstrators killing hundreds, perhaps thousands in the process. To this day, human rights activists continue to expose China’s forced labor camps, mistreatment of dissidents, and the curtailment of free speech among other offenses.
Dissent Groups Are Still Very Much Alive — The Falun Gong, Buddhists, Christians, Muslims, et al, are very active within the country, with separatist-minded regions such as Xinjiang and Tibet giving the authorities the most problems. China’s revelation of a recent hijacking attempt was too vague to believe and likely a way for the central planning committee to tell dissidents to back off or else.
Product Quality Is Deplorable — Sure, not everything made in China stinks, but when pets die and tainted paint is found in children’s toys, consumers have every right to be concerned. Blaming it on changing standards and foreign designs just doesn’t cut it — if consumers perceive your products to be inferior, they’ll stay away.
Beijing Is Terribly Polluted — Ethiopian marathon runner, Haile Gebrselassie, is the best example of an athlete who is concerned about Beijing’s air pollution problem. Gebrselassie (who has asthma) mentioned on BBC recently that he would not run the marathon; instead, he stated that he would participate in the 10,000m event. Oddly, the BBC broadcast mysteriously disappeared when it was aired in China. You, think?!
Personally, I’m glad that when it comes to marketing my work is with small businesses, an easier area of concentration. I’ll be watching the Olympics this summer in part to see the athletes in action but also to observe how the People’s Republic of China handles what just could be a major publicity disaster in the making.
Do you, Baidu?
One more problem is that people that come to other countries from China are not usually normally appreciated. All the bias comes from the past, the politics and television brainwashing.
Selective, there is a lot of history for people to overcome. I’ve met some Chinese from the mainland who were cordial and receptive, clearly many of her citizens yearn for more freedom.
Tiannamen square on Google China — pretty pictures, no tanks.
James, no surprise that Google China is featuring pretty Tiananmen Square photos only. Google, Yahoo and MSN have all caved in to the PRC.
I think the Beijing Olympics is excellent for China because now that they are being scrutinized by the whole world, they have no choice but to clean up their act.
I just returned from a trip to Hangzhou in China and was surprised to see
1. buses that run on electricity (similar to trams)
2. rubbish bins that were separated into two parts, one part for recyclable materials, the other for non-recyclables
Improvements are being made, the Beijing Olympics is definitely changing China.
Precious, no doubt that China is cleaning up its outward image to the world. They have to do that or risk looking awful when the Olympics are held later this summer.
As far as scrutiny goes, will it force China to rethink the way that the country treats her citizens? Will dissidents fear being rounded up, tortured, even killed?
The PRC is marketing a friendly face to the world, but I’m afraid much of the persecution will continue and civil rights will fall far short.
Yes, Yahoo, Google, et al have caved, how long with the chinese people put up with it?
I think there will be a few problems during the Olympics with regard to their image. China is not used to being scrutinized like they will be.
Product Quality Is Deplorable… about that section of this post, I would say that this is strictly China’s own issue and they have their own government to govern that situation. But if you are referring to how it affects pets and children outside of China such as North America, well then its simply the North American distributors’ fault as well because they are just after the price of business since labor is so cheap in China. Meaning, the North American businesses are really after the profits than the quality.
China with an open internet is a huge revolution waiting to happen. They are cleaning up their image yes, but no real change is occurring.
Thank you everyone for your comments.
Within a day of posting this article, China is embroiled in civil strife, this time in Tibet. China says they are using restraint in attempting to stop unrest, but 18 Tibetans are dead.
Here we go again?
It makes on queasy about how hard the West was on the old USSR, yet it tip-toes around a communist dictatorship like China. The reason: China is willing to do business, and Western businessmen drool over its cheap labour and huge consumer base.