Negotiation Tactics

Commitment to "Principles". Perhaps because of the highly personalized and opportunistic quality of … … … and their ambivalent feelings about dealing with foreigners, the Chinese see tо establish their own ground rules in … by emphasizing their commitment tо certain general “principles”.

Thus, а Chinese official can be expected to … а negotiation either by pressing his foreign counterpart tо agree tо certain general principles or by … past agreements of а general nature with the foreigner's predecessors. А Chinese negotiator will judge the degree of commitment of his foreign … tо а relationship with China bу his acceptance of relevant principles, and as а negotiation proceeds he will … tо constrain his interlocutor's room for bargaining … by invoking "principle" in order tо critique his counterpart's …

Nonetheless, the experience of recent negotiations with the PRC reveals clearly that when … … … tо reach а specific agreement they will set aside their stress on principle and reach а concrete understanding that in fact may have little … tо — or may even seem tо contravene — the principles they stressed early in the negotiation.

1.invoking; 2. Chinese officials want; 3. negotiation;

4. position; 5. seek; 6. maneuver; 7. relation;

8. initiate; 9. their own politics; 10. counterpart;

EXERCISE 3. Practice your abilities in discussion.

Read the article to find out the main ideas. Put 10-15 questions to the text then with the help of your questions discuss it, expressing agreements or disagreements, exclamations, additions as well as summarizing your ideas (for the purpose use the material of section 2). Then retell it.

National Characteristics

The Cultivation and Use of "Friends of China". Chinese officials are highly disciplined in their pursuit of PRC interests; yet as Chinese they are distrustful of impersonal or legalistic negotiations. The most fundamental characteristic of dealings with the Chinese is their attempt tо identify foreign officials who are sympathetic tо cultivate а sense of friendship and obligation in their official counterparts, and then tо pursue their objectives through а variety of stratagems designed tо manipulate feelings of friendship, obligation, guilt, or dependence.

The Chinese will go tо collect information on the opinions and personal preferences of their official counterparts, not just attitudes on political issues but personal likes as tо food and music as well. They will then use such information tо develop а sense of personal relationship. Dinnertime conversations and sight to cultivate а mood of "friendship."

When Chinese officials speak of "friendship" or identify а foreigner as an "old friend," it should be remembered that in their tradition "friendship" implies obligations as much as good personal relations. Moreover, PRC officials limit their dealings with foreign "friends" strictly tо formal occasions. Contemporary Chinese have highly mixed feelings about foreigners. On the one hand they admire the power and economic progress that they see in the West — which they seek tо gain through foreign "friendships." On the other hand, they resent China's backwardness, dependence on outsiders, and the feeling that they have been ill-treated in the past by those on whom they have relied for help in modernizing their country.

EXERCISE 4. Train your thinking and communicating.

Translate one of the passages from English into Russian using your dictionary in written form. Look through the texts. Then think over and have (guide) the conversation using the problems given below the texts in pairs.