Recent Columns: Latest News Above Business Opportunities in Asia: May 2000 Columns   INDIVIDUALISM VS. COMMUNISM (IV) Knowledge and Human Power are Synonymous - Francis Bacon, Rise of the INTELLIGENTSIA June 19, 2000 The most feared enemy of the communists is the intelligentsia because the latter always looks for knowledge and truth. As a result, they are no buyers of communism or faithful followers of the communist party. Therefore, it was no surprise that Mao Zetong used to brand them as : “STINK NO. 9”. They were among the most highly suppressed and degraded class in China. After the tumult of the "cultural revolution", efforts to restore normal education resulted in the discovery of a serious of SHORTAGE of teachers. That was the comback opportunity for the intelligentsia to restore some their lost status in society. We have mentioned before the Reform and Opening period, which started to redistribute wealth among people--but not to the intelligentsia. Previously, there was a saying "A missile expert’s pay is much less than a tea-leaf-boiled eggs hawker’s". As industrialization progresses from coastal to interior provinces, knowledge has suddenly has become equivalent to wealth. New hightech companies require a great deal of talent, including those professor/scholars who can translate their knowledge into industrial application. As one example, there is a professor of Wuhan University who has helped an industrial group to design a processing plant for the manufacture of medicine. This plant has subsequently made a billion dollars. As a result, this professor’s worth is now around RMB131,800,000=US$15,000,000! Students returning from overseas are establishing companies, which make them large fortunes, using the advanced technology they learned abroad. The point here is not the weath; it is the unmuzzling of the intelligentsia. Hence, their knowledge will become a power that can fundamentally change the flawed system on the mainland of China. If you are interested in exploring the role of advanced technologies in the Chinese market, we shall be pleased to help you translate it ithat interest into concrete results. (last of this series) INDIVIDUALISM VS. COMMUNISM (III) DECAYED MEAT PRODUCES BUGS, STALE FISH NOURISH WORMS SHUN TSE (legalist : appproximately 313 - 230 B.C.) June 9, 2000 On the world corruption country list, PRC ranks No. 3 (Taiwan ranks No. 5; Real blood brothers, if not twins! ). We talked about gold-producing workers in garbage last time. Now, let us turn our attention to rubbish or used-item buyers. Previously in China, those used-article buyers were called "collectors of the broken and the rotten". As time goes on, the collected items changed from toothpaste tubes, plastic sandals, and glass bottles to used-furniture pieces, home appliances, etc. While more and more people have joined this line of pursuit, some of them have become known as "bugs"; thosewho have made a good living out of PRC’s corruption. Cigarette bugs: When good citizens look for certain service from the government, the staff in charge usually say “Yan Chiu, Yan Chiu (translated as: let us review it). However, "Yan Chiu" sounds identical to "cigarettes and wines", it hints at what the speaker is thinking. Therefore, the hapless citizen (applicant for service) will have to give a gift of cigarettes and/or wine. Of course, the staff person may not be able to consume all the cigarettes received--he/she may not even be a smoker--but the cigarettes can be sold on the black market. Gasoline bugs: during the time of planned economy, gasoline coupons were issued and controlled strictly. Since the lifting of controls, the valuable coupons have been sold by the chauffeurs of those unit leaders, leaders whose activities have been under the surveillance of their chauffeurs. It is easy to see why those bosses always close their eyes to their chauffeurs’ sale of gasoline coupons. Medicine bugs: 2 gangs almost control the whole business,viz. Henan and Hepei Provinces. Equipped with cellular phones, they can easily contact those who have surplus medicine or who have access to government pharmacies. The gangs' outlets are country doctors, clinics, and other similar places in need of medicine. While the gangs make a lot of money, they have also created victims. A rough estimate is that last year 200,000+ persons died from taking the wrong medicine stemming from this type of scam. Before you invest, you must understand whether your enterprise could be bugs-free. Experts’ advise is always essential. (to be continued) E-mail: VJCHANG@hotmail.com Tel/Fax USA : (301) 438-7439