U.S. Technology Firms, China Tangle Again Over Contracts
There’s an old proverb in China: The mountains are high, and the emperor is far away–meaning, if you’re a bureaucrat out in the hustings, you can pretty much forget about Beijing and do whatever you like.
U.S. companies are learning this the painful way.
Multinationals are again complaining to U.S. trade officials about a problem they thought was resolved months ago. When China’s President Hu Jintao met with President Barack Obama in January, he agreed to cancel rules that required foreign companies to design their products in China if they hoped to sell to the government–essentially a forced technology transfer.
