Chinese businesses are hiring westerners to give the image of ‘Being Connected to the West’. (via Sylvia)
And so I became a fake businessman in China, an often lucrative gig for underworked expatriates here. One friend, an American who works in film, was paid to represent a Canadian company and give a speech espousing a low-carbon future. Another was flown to Shanghai to act as a seasonal-gifts buyer. Recruiting fake businessmen is one way to create the image—particularly, the image of connection—that Chinese companies crave. My Chinese-language tutor, at first aghast about how much we were getting paid, put it this way: “Having foreigners in nice suits gives the company face…”
That’s a sweet gig. I would love a job like that. Travelling around China, being paid to watch movies in an office… If only I was white… er… yeah that didn’t sound right to me either.
Any western companies looking to hire Asians to loiter around and make them look ‘Connected to the East’? I can send you my résumé. And just to clarify, I didn’t mean that as a euphemism…
