Largely because of past political experiences, you may find that your Chinese counterparts, particularly those who hold subordinate positions, are not eager to go out on a limb for anyone unless they can see an immediate and substantial personal benefit to doing so.

Although this attitude may appear to manifest itself as disregard for the welfare of others – even in situations where the automatic reaction would be to offer assistance – what you are witnessing is much more likely to be a deeply ingrained protective detachment that stems from the years of turmoil in China’s recent history. During Mao’s heyday and beyond, the safest strategy was to lay low and hope to attract as little attention as possible.

With the political climate changing repeatedly and without warning during this time, any form of forward planning also became pointless. This resulted in a tendency to focus on the short-term, which was at least nominally under the individual’s control.

For similar reasons, your Chinese counterparts may hesitate to discuss their political opinions with you, if they have them. Unlike in the West, politics is not an open forum for discussion in China and very little substantial news regarding political leaders and their actions is available to the general public; therefore, people frequently do not have the opportunity to form a political opinion. Others hesitate to do so for fear of leaving themselves vulnerable. In either case, it is a good idea to tread lightly in this area.