China Squeezes Juicy Transfers of Technology from the West

Woellert, Lorraine, The Washington Times (Washington, DC)

The Great Wall is one of China's biggest tourist attractions, and visitors gladly shell out $4 for a close-up look. That is, unless they're Chinese: Then the price of a ticket drops to just a few cents.

"It's our wall," said one Chinese official.

It's also their economy, as Chrysler Corp. discovered earlier this year when it wanted to sell minivans in China.

China needed someone to build vans to replace the tiny and antiquated "bread taxis" - so named because of their loaflike shape - that choke city streets.

But more than new taxis, China wanted the right to own the company's technology. Chrysler said no, so Mercedes Benz got the job.

"It would be dishonest if I said that wasn't frustrating," said Doug Evans, director of China operations for Chrysler in Detroit. "We develop our technology, we are willing and want to use that technology for good business applications. But we have to consider how we use that technology for the benefit of Chrysler."

U.S. officials fear that the Middle Kingdom has elevated its trade exchange demands to an economic art form, and President Clinton will press the Chinese on the issue today in a …

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Publication information: Article title: China Squeezes Juicy Transfers of Technology from the West. Contributors: Woellert, Lorraine - Author. Newspaper title: The Washington Times (Washington, DC). Publication date: November 24, 1996. Page number: 1. © 2009 The Washington Times LLC. COPYRIGHT 1996 Gale Group.

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