A change of tune
COMMENT
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By Sami Sillanpää in Beijing
Once upon a time people talked about globalisation. In the process of economic globalisation, companies will become internationalised, and trade will be freed from its shackles. This, so the story went, will be a good thing for everyone. And this was the official line of the Western governments, Finland included.
In the last few years, China has benefited from globalisation. The country has received large dollops of investment from abroad, to the tune of USD 53.5 billion last year alone; jobs have been created, and the country has become more prosperous.
When this was noticed in Finland, suddenly globalisation was no longer such a good thing after all. The entire subject was given a new name: the "China Syndrome".
It was all China's fault anyway, they said. Those wily orientals, they seduced our companies. And if we are to believe the words of some Finnish politicians, our companies have all the morals of a 10-dollar whore if they respond favourably to the Chinese overtures.
What a shame that this China Syndrome, this globalisation process, was so fervently sought a while back. Now it has changed the world, and Finnish companies, too, have to search for ways of staying alive in the free market, even if it means going all the way to China to do it.
The competition in China is tough, and the risks are great. If Finnish companies succeed in their difficult task in the Chinese market, they deserve our respect, and not our sneering.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print19.6.2004
More on this subject:
 Helsingin Sanomat enquiries suggest impact of "China Syndrome" relatively minor
SAMI SILLANPÄÄ / Helsingin Sanomat
sami.sillanpaa@hs.fi
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