Chinese Opinion Of Troubled America

2012-01-19T12:15:00.000-08:00

Recently I wrote a letter to my Chinese friend, who grew up in China, attended graduate school in The United States and is now residing in NL (the Netherlands).

Of course she did not want to be disrespectful or hurt anyone’s feelings, so I asked her to be extremely honest while answering a few questions. I explained that unless we can be honest, we cannot learn. If we cannot learn, how will anything improve?

Below are the thoughts and opinion of someone who has lived in China and America. Today her home is in Europe.

My questions and her answers are pasted below.

* Foreign corporations generally do not expand to American soil. I realize that we do have a few foreign companies that operate here. But for the most part, foreign companies to do operate or open manufacturing plants here. Why?

Answer I think I agree with your statement partially. Foreign corporations (generally) do open offices in the United States. At least for Chinese companies, having their stock listed in the NY stock exchange is a sign of strong business performance and potential compared to London, Hong Kong or Shanghai. But it is true that they tend not to have manufactures in the US, actually the whole western world. You know how labor costs are so much lower in countries like China and India. Another advantage of China is that our infrastructure is catching up very fast, especially transportation and energy supply.

* American corporations are responsible for paying employee benefits, such as unemployment insurance & social security (retirement). A few will help pay for health care insurance. How does this work in China and NL?

Also American employers who have more than 50 employees must offer a minimum of 12 weeks unpaid leave to employees who need time off due to a serious medical condition, need to care for a close family member who has a serious medical condition, or upon the birth or adoption of a child.

Answer I know in (NL), we have unlimited paid sick days. My supervisor told me “when you are sick, you are sick.” I don’t know if I can take every day of the year off and still get paid, but at least on paper, I can take as many days off as needed.

In China, averagely, people have about 5-10 paid sick days. Taking more than that could impact the year-end bonus. I am not sure about taking time off to care for a close family member, but for new born, China gives 6 months to a year of paid maternity leave, and NL gives 3 months paid.

* Employers must pay time and half to hourly employees who work more than 40 hours in a week. If the employee is salaried, no overtime is paid. How does this work in China and NL?

Answer I think this is the same in China (on paper) but in reality, not all overtime for salaried workers is paid. This is a very big issue for law reinforcement. I am not sure about NL – We don’t know anyone who is an hourly worker. I think in the USA there are a lot of people who work at a company for 35 hours but are hired as “hourly” workers, because the employers don’t want to pay for their insurance. In NL since people pay for their own insurance, this is not an issue.

* American employers are NOT required to pay for the following:

** Break time, although most employers will allow for 30 – 60 minutes for a lunch break.

Answer This is the same for China and NL.

** Health insurance

Answer In NL, we (each person) pay for our own health insurance (from non-profit insurance companies). I pay 90 euro per month, about $120 US Dollars. I also pay premium for hospital treatment and this is about 150 euro per year (about $200 US Dollars) and then everything is covered.

In China, the government is reforming the health insurance system. I am not sure about the current status.

** Paid holidays, although some American employers will offer major holiday bonus pay, others give you the day off without pay.

Answer All officially identified holidays are paid days off in both China and NL.

** Employees can be terminated at will of the employers. Is this the same in China and NL?

Answer I think one month notice is standard in China… not sure if this is written as law though.

In NL, labor unions are pretty strong in most companies. Most employees have permanent contract – meaning that an employee who lost his/her position can have 6 months of paid search period to look for another position in the company without being fired. But people can also have 1-year or 2-year contracts – not sure how those contracts can be terminated.

In the economic downturn, the NL government (unemployment fund) pays for half of the salary to keep people employed (the other half paid by employer).

In the case of layoff, NL employers have to pay for the training for the laid off workers so they can develop another skill(s) to be re-employed elsewhere later (it is called social solution).

* In America raises are not required, unless the minimum wage goes up, although some places will offer small annual raises. That means if someone is making minimum wage, $7.25 hourly, you may get 25 cent raise hourly.

Answer In practice, NL has raise no lower than the inflation rate, or people will go on strike and normally they will get the raise. China has seen a fast economic growth in the past years so wages have gone up rapidly as a result.

* How does the following differ from Holland, Europe, and China?

America has a $15 trillion deficit http://www.usdebtclock.org and our infrastructure is slowly falling apart. How does this compare to other countries?

Answer I think both China and NL are much healthier in terms of deficit. Some EU countries are in a much worse position, such as Greece and Italy, but none are in such deep debt as the US. In the EU, there is a rule that prescribes a maximum of 3% deficit on the budget. If not obeyed, there will be economic punishment measures.

* What is your prediction concerning America?

Answer While I think it’s unfortunate, I do think US has to get used to the thought that maybe one day, the country is not the best in everything any more (nor the only super power). Americans must have this kind of mentality before going elsewhere to look for best practices and learn. I said this because we heard from many occasions of this kind of American pride, especially the recent comment of President Obama in the State of the Union address to have the US “out-build and out-smart the rest of the world”.

According to my friend who is a NL college Professor, this is called “Hubris” in ancient Greek, which means overestimating one’s own competence or capabilities. It is one thing to be ambitious, but another to know where the country is (currently) lacking and whom it can learn from. I remember when President Obama just took office, he was a humble guy, but when he was humble, his satisfaction rate dropped. This says something about the American people as a whole. - - - END

My friend has always liked Americans. However after living in America for a few years, she decided that America is a violent, expensive place to live. She feels safer in Europe. In spite of this, she warmly recalls that Americans can be very kind people.

She believes that America is straying deeper and deeper into difficult times. Her advice is for America to steer their country onto a more mutually, beneficial course that is good for all Americans… before it’s too late. Post your thoughts below and please visit IHT World