Off The Record
5 Things You Learn By Faking To Be A Businessman In China
It may seem like the plot of a very overrated racist comedy show where a white guy goes to China and uses all his energy and tricks to pretend to be a wealthy businessman, successfully managing to keep his disguise as he gets nearly caught every time, but yet somehow comes out of the disaster like a hero.
But this dumb fictional, screwball comedy show is the actual reality of the business industry in China where they deliberately employ and hire white guys to show their affinity with the United States to schemingly manage international business relations.
Here are the 5 ways how a Chinese firm is benefited out of this crafty and artful technique:
1. In China, engaging with white people in business deals and meetings, enables the country to earn greater credibility
This is highly disturbing but yet it is the truth. Suppose you are a good looking, intelligent white man, the chances are high that you will end up doing/getting a job like this. Chinese delegates have been employing such men from all the world for a pretty long time now. The task is to attend office meetings like a pro businessman and react accordingly to whatever is going on. You don’t need to speak in their language nor do you have to give any extra effort to try to understand what’s going on in there. The aim is to get the other clients accustomed to a make-believe situation that you are a western delegate taking interest in their work. This job doesn’t require any bunch of qualifications too. The role is to act according to the guidelines of your post, with hand movements and maybe with a loud voice to act like a harsh American. With Americans in their work space, it makes them look rich, powerful, influential, one with lots of connections which in turn booms their reputation.
2. They will never realize it’s a fake backstory
For these rented Americans, sometimes merely smiling and shaking hands wouldn’t do. They require a fake identity and a fake personal background to tell the others. They are given information about their new identity while entering the job. Maybe you’re from Amsterdam, an investor, unmarried etc. Although mistakes are made while trying hard to imitate a new style, they always manage not to get caught. They pull it off successfully. Because at the end of the day, it did not matter what they said or how they acted. The only thing that was significant was that they were white.
3. The truth of not knowing the language saved them from many crises
These employers had to attend meetings, sometimes just one and sometimes several ones. The bigger crowds are always easier to mingle with. However, the lesser the number of people, the more daunting the task was. The task of faking themselves through small meetings and casual conversations was the hardest when many had to depend on translators to remind them the right words.
4. There would always be some ridiculous disaster cases
They come very close to getting exposed at times. There were speeches and lines to be memorized almost a few hours before meetings when the chances of messing things up were the highest. Yet they managed to save themselves from the crisis. Fake westerners had to do a lot of things over the years like faking to be a pianist or a celebrity. But they have somehow managed it always. They had to speak in accents fluently to avoid getting caught. Any American with a sketchy background is always an item of suspicion. In such cases, they are supposed to use their skill to control the situation and duck any unavoidable situation.
5. Eventually everyone gets used to the game of faking
Reports say that over the 2000s, there has been a reduction in the recruitment of ‘rent-a-foreigner’. This is possibly because now technology is faster and it is no longer difficult to search for the credibility of one’s identity online. However, the practice continues in many struggling small businesses. The job in such places doesn’t require any effort at all as compared to the high office buildings of the main city of China.
