So what does an unemployed career revolutionary do with himself?
Because I still had good contacts in Russia, I decided there and then to go to work as a journalist in Moscow and to report on the arrival of the post-communist era from the front line.
For a state-owned outlet?
No – to be precise, for the German private TV channel RTL. That was obviously something of a conflict for me as a long-term left-wing agitator and propagandist – to find myself working as a tabloid-style journalist in the former Soviet Union.
Alongside Gerd Ruge, among others. What kind of news were you covering in Moscow?
The Russian mafia, prostitution and suchlike. At some point it struck me that I wanted to be more than just a Russian expert. And so I found myself targeting China again, because I was looking for a new challenge. I went on to spend a year in Hong Kong to report on the British handover to the Chinese, followed by a move to Beijing to learn Chinese. Then I spent some time in New York until I got the call from Bertelsmann to build up a subsidiary for Gruner & Jahr in China.
How did Bertelsmann come to choose you? How did a former career revolutionary transform into the manager of a Media Multinational?
Good question. I applied for the job in standard fashion and was astonished that they chose me. I had no management experience whatsoever. An interesting experience, too, to see how such decisions pan out – there were 120 candidates.
Sinologists weren't considered for the job because they were too academic and intellectual. Neither were the MBA types – they were only looking at it as another rung on their career ladder and had no real interest in China. The company could see a range of advantages in my personal connections with China – I have a Chinese wife, I knew the language, I understood the culture, and I was committed to stay, live, and work in China. That's what tilted the balance in my favour.
What was the company looking for in China? To bring existing titles into the Chinese market, or to establish entirely new products?
Just one example: Before I started, the company had already established a motor magazine for China – based in Paris and completely cut off from China! It was clear that as a foreign enterprise they couldn't set up any publication in China. So they simply sought out a series of domestic Chinese partners – the worst you could imagine. But group management believed this setup would give them better control over the Chinese end. Unbelievable!
So with three incompetent Paris-based French-speaking editors, who spoke neither English nor Chinese, far less knew anything about China, we produced a periodical for China. The magazine's Advertising Manager was from the partner firm in China. He was timid and completely unqualified, some kind of doctor in Traditional Chinese Medicine. He was only hired because the head of the Chinese partner company was having an affair with his wife, so he gave him the job as some kind of "compensation". Imagine what all that was like! Hardly a normal approach to business!
So what was your task?
Basically, I had to work with this barren soil and somehow transfer the business operations progressively to China. We kicked off with a small base in Shanghai and grew steadily from there. Once I had identified a better business partner in Beijing, we were able to launch a few more titles – a publication for parents, a fitness magazine, that sort of thing. But I was the intermediary between two completely different worlds. Group management in Germany had no understanding whatsoever of Chinese cultural issues, and stubbornly insisted on trying to impose their European approach – including their management methods – on the Chinese.
Clearly this was never going to work. For example, in any sizable Chinese business there is always a Party boss who either oversees the work of the head of the business or exercises the function himself. That creates a different type of decision-making process. Such cultural nuances simply passed over the heads of the German management – they were typical MBA types who could only think in numbers, and were only interested in their own careers. This constantly led to friction, and after three years I made the decision to quit the company. I went on to become a correspondent for Stern magazine
After ten years in China, what do you see as the major changes that have taken place?
Everybody talks about the economic transformation. But what strike me are the changes in the lifestyle of the people. In the past there was a great deal of diffidence – Chinese with regard to foreigners, or between men and women – that was always the impression I had. Today, things have completely changed. Cultural differences between East and West still prevail, but more in terms of "official" attitudes than in the way people actually lead their lives. Young people in China today are just as open and experimental in their approach to life as in many other countries. Obviously, international influences play a major role in this area. In many ways, people in China are simply freer.
For example?
In the west there is a lot of talk about product piracy and infringements of intellectual property, but I find it a good and a healthy development that people in China can get hold of a film from anywhere in the world. That brings about a better understanding of other cultures. Another factor lies in China's own economic development. People have a greater range of choice in their daily lives – for example the availability of a much wider range of clothing, to choose one simple facet.
Is this notion of "freedom" that initially restricts itself to material things typically Chinese?
In my book, which has just been published in Chinese under the title "Wo de fenqing suiyue" ("The wild days of my youth"), I called one chapter "Bourgeoisie with a Chinese stamp". In my youth the word "bourgeois" was an insult, but the bourgeoisie in modern China are something different. Typical studious office workers frequent the chic restaurants, seek out the newest pirate DVDs, watch the latest Chinese soap operas, and take up the latest exotic hobbies. You could dismiss their fixation with their own personal wellbeing and their consumer products as banal, but I find it a positive thing. I too have mellowed with the passage of time.
That sounds like a reconciled revolutionary speaking?
Well, you know, in my experience those who are excessively focused on idealistic extremes often do more harm than simpler people who are only concerned with their own aspirations for a better life. For example, such people set up small businesses, and provide jobs for others. Produce some trifle that other people can buy.
Today's Chinese market model was an unusual experiment in combining the ideology of communism with the principles of capitalism. A lot of time was invested in its development. Do you think this was a wise decision?
Absolutely. You only have to contrast it with the Soviet Union, which has taken a completely different path. There the first step was political reform, followed by market reform, making the latter much less effective. That has left many Russians facing a rather less than positive outlook. When I was in Russia in 1990, everything had fallen to pieces. The Chinese way – slow change, carefully put into practice – makes much more sense. The Chinese have perhaps a better sense of what works, and are more flexible in the practical implementation of reform.
Does Europe have something to learn from this?
Definitely. We Germans tend to be a bit inflexible when things don't turn out exactly as we had expected. But even if things seem somewhat chaotic to begin with, in China they tend to find a solution somewhere along the line.
(China.org.cn May 15, 2009)
