[School Post] - Boeing

I feel very privileged and grateful to be on this trip. The reason why I feel this way is because we are really getting an inside scoop on stuff here and I realized that I am lucky to be doing stuff like this given my semi-humble beginnings (Read this as: Not bad for a kid from East Boston).

Today we were received by Boeing- China Vice President David Wang and listened to a presentation by VP of Sales: Robert Laird and VP of China Initiatives: Mike Paone. It was more information on how Boeing does business here. We asked a lot of questions about what it takes to be a successful ex-patriate, what kind of technical infrastructure issues they face and what other issues they have to deal with in order to do business. (Listening to the Sox/Seattle game on the Internet right now...Belhorne homers for his 17th..Sox up 7-0 pummelling Moyer).

Boeing points:
They said one of their biggest problems are visa issues their employers face when trying to get back to the US for training, development and other business trips. The US government seems to be hampering (to a point) commerce in China because most European countries (according to what we heard at Boeing), don't have the visa restrictions China has. This is interesting since China has not been linked to terrorism and in my research prior to this trip, anti-terrorism is considered a common political (economic) rallying point between the US and China. This bears more investigation especially since the "armchair" US presidents are quick to vilify the US government and The Homeland Security Act. Understandably so, but I fear a greater percentage of oppositionists on this issue are against it more for the reason of being swept up in left-rhetoric (which meshes well with credible human justice thinking) vs. really looking at security policy and WHY it challenges practicality. I'm not defending it, I just think many, including mainstream media have not explored enough why our policies exist. Remember, there is A LOT we don't know and policy makers may be willing to take it on the chin from public criticism in order to get a dirty job done i.e. US protection. The world isn't fair remember. Oh, and also remember that the U.S. doesn't have a monopoly on doing things in its own interest. Read this as, we are playing the same game the rest of the world is. If we want to change the rules (for good or bad) don't expect others to. This is just a tidbit to chew on. I don't endorse it...I just at least consider it. Unfortunately, we have been forced into acting in a protectionist mode because of it. I feel that we may have to play ball with the rest of the world and tone down the Good vs. Evil mantra. It is elitist thinking and as I stated earlier, everyone else in the world plays in the same game and their view of good vs. evil is much different. Therefore, the "is or isn't" mentality may be a dangerous platform to base world security policy on but SOMEONE, ESPECIALLY ON THE LEFT, TELL ME ANOTHER APPROACH. Your argument will hold more water if you can do it beyond the overly-simplistic, "The government is fear-mongering in order to erode our liberties in order to serve its own interests" argument. Why? What interests? I digress.

However, the above problem IS affecting Boeing (and I suspect other US companies) , along with lingering trade issues between our two countries and WTO mediation. This may make China look to other companies (i.e Airbus) to do business. This would be unfortunate since Boeing predicts: Chinese air fleet will quadruple in the next 20 years, China will build 200 new airports in the next 10 years and it is the Chinese government's intention to raise the standard of living in all of China as it has already started doing on the East Coast. Boeing needs in on this.

We didn't get much information on e-commerce infrastructure issues from Boeing except that they are conducting an infrastructure assessment in October over here which I suspect will point to long-haul and local capacity issues with China Telecom, etc. On that note, if business is to be successful here, the broadband infrastructure of China needs to dramatically improve. So far, most of the effort for infrastructure improvements have been analog (highways and structures).

A few interesting notes:

• All tail assemblies for Boeing Aircraft are manufactured in China
• We were told (i have to verify) that Boeing is the largest exporter to China. Hmmm. not sure by what metrics.
• All new construction in Beijing will end in 2006 to prepare for a 2 year sprucing up for 2008 summer Olympics.
• A small city in China is 2-3 million people.