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The “Despicable” Chinese

The “Despicable” Chinese
Zhenlin Kan

Headlines like “Litter Everywhere After Their Departure” and “Unwelcome Tourists From China” raise the question of whether Chinese people are internationally regarded as less civilized than others. But are they?

It is difficult to not notice the deluge of negative opinions toward one specific population, so this warrants a closer look at this issue.

On March 1, 2016, a young Chinese female passenger was insulted aboard Virgin Atlantic Airways Flight VS250 from London to Shanghai. In addition to facing discriminatory verbal abuse from a white passenger, she was also threatened by the chief flight attendant. She was completely neglected during the whole flight (except for a Chinese attendant who was warned not to talk about the incident during the flight). Enraged, the victim narrated her experience on the Internet and wrote a scathing letter to the airline.

Noteworthy is that, unlike many Chinese people who are used to receiving unfair treatment initially caused by some rude Chinese tourists and prefer to tolerate such treatment instead of becoming entangled in some conflict, the woman was courageous enough to stand up and defend her dignity. As a result, her actions galvanized millions of internet users in China into seeking justice, attracted international attention, and utimately forced Virgin Atlantic Airways to issue a formal apology.

A week later, on March 8, a dozen “Chinese” tourists were caught swimming nude at a famous public beach in Thailand. A photo taken by a local resident spread quickly online, stimulating a diverse range of inflammatory comments about Chinese tourists. However, it was later learned that the tourists were Japanese. This raises the question of whether Chinese people are more likely than other ethnic groups to be wrongfully treated and accused.

The answer may be quite simple: After the photo was released online, no Chinese responded. None called for an investigation. It would appear that to many Chinese people, such events do not really matter as long as they have some personal impact. That is, it is not worth it to get involved and be bruised in the process. This may motivate many to remain aloof to others. Defend no one, and pay no attention to others’ conduct. No wonder things have been getting worse.

Are people of various ethnic backgrounds really different? I strongly doubt it. Then the answer calls for Chinese people to voice their concerns more actively. Without this voice, Chinese people are likely to witness their situation worsen.

An Analysis of Spatial Changes Due to Special Relativity

Abstract
This thought experiment addresses loss of volume that occurs when a three-dimensional object is
contracted due to relativistic processes. Specifically we investigate the dependence of contraction
due to orientation relative to direction of motion. Length contraction states that relative constant
velocity will lead to a shortened distance in the direction of motion, when viewed from a
separate inertial reference frame. When applied to two dimensional shapes, this results in a
reduced area. The problem initially focuses on a square pyramid with the height perpendicular to
the direction of motion. Using geometry, it is found that the area of the base is invariant under
rotation. The problem is then expanded to general shapes. Any shape can be approximated by
inscribing circles within the perimeter, coming arbitrarily close to the shape’s actual area. Since
circles are fundamentally invariant under rotation, the change in area of a circle is independent of
orientation. This argument is used to postulate that any two dimensional shape, when contracted
in one direction, will have a reduced area that is invariant under rotation. Therefore the
contracted area and subsequent reduced volume depend only on the Lorentz factor γ, and not on
relative orientation of the object. A key next step is to determine if this can be extrapolated to
three dimensions, using spheres instead of circles.

Morgan Andrew Davis
Hanjoon Kim
John Patrick McCulloch
Mason Duran Waaler

Click here for PDF file: 2012[4]

The Merchant of Venice: An SFA

S. Zou

 

The character I choose for the play “The Merchant of Venice”, which is written by Shakespeare, is Portia. Portiafirst enter the play is at Act 1 Scene 2. In a room in Portia’s house, talking with Nerissa. Portia is one of the most important characters in this play. In my opinion, she is the key of the whole play. She is the key that opened the play by become the reason of Bassanio came to Antonio to borrow money. Shakespeareuses her as a key opened the play and he also use her as a line, a line which connected all the character together. Eventually, Shakespeare used this beautiful lady as a stage, a foundation, all the characters enter the scene and act on this stage, on this foundation. In my personal opinion, she is the symbol of human desire. She is the symbol of beauty, love, money and conflict. Because of her, Bassanio wants to borrow money from Antonio to marry her — Man wants beautiful lady. Bassanio’s action leads us to see how much Antonio love him as a son. And also lead us to Shylock’s hatred to Antonio. To sum up, Portia’s function is the key, the line, also the foundation or stage of this play, because of her, every character gets the chance to enter the play and act.

The scene I picked is Act 1 Scene 2 which is Portia first enter the play. Here is the scene in Scenic Form Analysis. (SFA)

Portia Nerissa Serving-man Total
2 6 8
1 1 2
14      8 22
     3 1 4
4 1 5
7 1 8
9 2 11
8 1 9
5 2 7
5 3 8
5 6 11
5 3 8
1 2 3
2 2
1 4 5
8 8

In the SFA, we can easily see that Portia and Nerissa’s characteristic out of it. As the SFA shows, Portia talks a lot with Nerissa, but Nerissa didn’t talk a lot back. Nerissa’s words remind me about Antonio. In my opinion, Nerissa is a wise person too. She knows how to listen, and how to question. She is a person whom Portia wants to pour her heart out to. It’s very similar to the mixture of a mother and a close friend. And Nerissa is that person to Portia. Because she is the waiting-women to Portia, which means she knows Portia better than any of her friend. She knows what’s Portia’s life looks like. And because of the job, she have to learn how to listen and how to speak. That’s the reason why Portia said a lot to her but she only respond with a few important words. As for Portia. We can tell she talked a lot in front of Nerissa, she almost pull out her heart and show it to Nerissa. It shows me she was a woman who is good at catching detail in daily life. Unlike Antonio, she is also a lady who doesn’t want to hide all her thoughts in her mind. She is a clear-up-girl. She likes to release her pressure by talking to somebody who knows and understands her. That’s why I think she is such a God- blesse-lady or a lucky girl. In her life, there is another lady who knows her and understands her, ready all the time for her open her heart and release the pressure. That kind of person is very hard to find in our life. To sum up, that’s my Act 1 Scene 2’s SFA.

Original version Speech.

If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do,

chapels had been churches and poor men’s cottages

princes’ palaces. It is a good divine that follows his own

instructions; I can easier teach twenty what were good to

be done, than to be one of the twenty to follow mine own                    15

teaching. The brain my devise laws for the blood, but a

hot temper leaps o’er a cold decree; such a hare is

madness the youth, to skip o’er the meshes of good

counsel the cripple. But this reasoning is not in the

fashion to choose me a husband. O me, the word “choose”!                   20

I may neither choose who I would nor refuse who I

Dislike; so is the will of a living daughter curb’d by the

Will of a dead father. Is it not hard, Nerissa, that I cannot

Choose on nor refuse none?(Act 1.Scene 2.11~24)

 

 

How Managers of Foreign Firms in China Perceive China’s Business Environment and Support: A Case Study of Pfizer China

How Managers of Foreign Firms in China Perceive China’s Business Environment and Support: A Case Study of Pfizer China

L.Zhen

 

Abstract

Doing business globally represents an attractive business opportunity for many firms for many reasons, but this can be difficult due to various cultural, language, and policy differences. This study examines how managers of foreign firms in China perceive China’s business environment, how they perceive the Chinese government’s business support for foreign firms, what factors they emphasize in terms of China’s business environment, whether there is any difference in factors emphasized in terms of China’s business environment between managers with favorable and unfavorable attitudes toward this environment, what factors they emphasize in terms of the Chinese government’s business support for foreign firms, and whether there is any difference in factors emphasized in terms of the Chinese government’s business support between managers with favorable and unfavorable attitudes toward this support. According to the results, the respondents generally had neutral attitudes toward China’s business environment and favorable attitudes toward the Chinese government’s business support. In terms of the business environment, the respondents emphasized a business environment conducive to business and a transparent business environment. In terms of business support, the respondents emphasized efforts to provide foreign firms with business support as the most important factor. The results have some important practical implications for policymakers and practitioners.

 

Keywords: Managers, Foreign Firms, Business Environment and Support, Pfizer, China