Shanghaiist: Paul French on why Tom Doctoroff is wrong about China

nanheyangrouchuan

Wed, 07 May 2008 08:23:39 +0800

"It also denigrates the efforts of, yes, expatriate businessmen who, while far from perfect and certainly not always noble," far, far from perfect and not even approaching noble.

T

Tue, 06 May 2008 17:24:19 +0800

Let's just hope this doesn't end up like Tupac and Biggie.

sapphire

Tue, 06 May 2008 16:22:01 +0800

and Crampton is his drinking buddy?

sapphire

Tue, 06 May 2008 16:18:31 +0800

"And since when is 40 years a "slight interruption?" Is this guy a geologist?" this guru is a historian and overdue poet i think.

sapphire

Tue, 06 May 2008 16:09:21 +0800

it seems the kids are bored and envious. still haven't found any 'firsts' from French and Crampton.

sapphire

Tue, 06 May 2008 16:09:21 +0800

it seems the kids are bored and envious. still haven't found any 'firsts' from French and Crampton.

EL JEFE

Tue, 06 May 2008 15:51:45 +0800

And since when is 40 years a "slight interruption?" Is this guy a geologist?

EL JEFE

Tue, 06 May 2008 15:46:35 +0800

What a beef. Maybe French is upset because Doctoroff's book is more popular, currently ranked 318,530 on Amazon vs. his measly 658,285. Scoreboard, scoreboard. Wait till my EL LIBRO blows em both away.

Dan Washburn

Tue, 06 May 2008 13:33:08 +0800

Doctoroff responds: I don’t know what to say. I believe the posting is unbalanced and the tone is bully-boy cocky. How does one respond to a sweeping statement — at least my book, on the first page, warns of “generalizations” — that yours truly is “wrong about China.” And then he rails against me, sarcasm dripping, for having the audacity to call myself a “pioneer” when Carl Crow had already seen “everything.” He’s playing a gotcha game gone bad. First, I have never called myself a pioneer. And, by the way, no one “took credit” (or implied involvement) for launching Buick. We did not even do that work. Bates did. Second, Carl Crow was man of ahead of his time — yes, he was a “pioneer” and blessed with extraordinary insight and observational skill. However, he did not see “everything.” The world has changed just a bit in 75 years. He did not see a middle class boasting 150 million people and an auto market with 6 million passenger cars sold per year. He did not see a mass market — now penetrating the rural fringe — snapping up mobile phones and using them to transform their lives. He did not see multinational corporations setting up R&D centers and manufacturing scale on the mainland. He did not see that extraordinary release of energy that resulted from the embrace of capital markets. For anyone to assume that “everything” has been seen before discredits that extraordinary genius of the Chinese people and their ability to adapt to an evolving world without sacrificing their enduring cultural orientation. It also denigrates the efforts of, yes, expatriate businessmen who, while far from perfect and certainly not always noble, have done their part to make China a more dynamic place as the 21st century unfolds. Tom Doctoroff

sapphire

Tue, 06 May 2008 11:53:37 +0800

what is there to learn from a drunk French and a bourgeois Crampton?

vladivostok

Tue, 06 May 2008 10:00:51 +0800

It's like he went for the Ancient Chinese Wisdom 101 course and somehow managed to slap everything he learnt together.

EL JEFE

Tue, 06 May 2008 09:52:05 +0800

Reading that linked article is like getting hit in the head with a sock full of pennies. Sounds like a pitch to a potential client, only the Powerpoint presentation is missing.

Dan Washburn

Tue, 06 May 2008 08:57:28 +0800

More from Mr. Doctoroff: The Mind of Chinese Men: the Anxiety of Disorientation

bamboos

Mon, 05 May 2008 21:38:42 +0800

just read "Doctoroff's Twelve Facts about the Confucian Consumers", half is true, the other half is for fun. anyway, glad to know what is french's view to us. eg: Chinese people never have dinner parties. -- very very wrong Soy sauce can save lives...-- seems to be a french humour (!) Victoria’s Secret doesn’t stand a chance -- hv you guys noticed ladies underwear price in Shanghai? it is the same as US and Europe! with very good sales record. ...