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I don't know what reaction was inside the RCA at the time after Corning sent snails to screw up the project. If they can know the development of China's economy and the expansion of the market, and know the decline of their company, they should regret that their intestines are green, at least rush to Corning, grab the daredevil who gave the gift, and reward him with a few mouths: "What you send is not good, but you want to send snails!" You think so! Don't know Chinese don't like snails? ”
The "snail incident" was a major event that shook the country in the 1970s. The general synopsis of the events is:
In 1972, China intended to import color TV production lines from the United States, and for this reason, the American RCA company approached and negotiated a price of $73 million.
In 1973, the then Four Machines Department (short for the Fourth Ministry of Machinery Industry, later the Ministry of Electronics Industry) sent someone to the United States to visit RCA to prepare to sign a contract. One stop on the expedition was a visit to Corning Corporation, which makes picture tube glass. Corning was very enthusiastic and gave the Chinese inspectors glass snails as gifts.
Unexpectedly, this glass snail gift caused an uproar in China. Some people wrote a complaint saying that the Americans were satirizing China's "crawling."
The defendant in this matter went to the highest decision-making level. After investigation, it was learned that glass snails are a common gift in the United States, and Americans did not mean to satirize Chinese. The matter was not further expanded.
Despite this, the project of introducing color TV production lines from the United States also failed. The introduction of color TV production lines from China was delayed for several years, until 1979, when it was introduced from Japan, and the price rose to $160 million.
I have elders working in the four machine departments, and I have heard about it many years ago. At that time, everyone's discussion on this matter was similar to the discussion on the Internet today, and they all lamented the absurdity of the "Cultural Revolution" behavior. Foreigners send a gift, why bother to toss themselves?
Of course, I didn't know much about the high-level political game behind this matter, but now that I see the disclosed inside story, there is nothing surprising about it, and it is all imaginable content. The difference is that what was originally thought to be Chinese characteristics now seems to be similar to all countries. Borrowing topics, factional struggles, clinging to them, not doing the right thing to people... Everyone plays politics, and it's not all about this. Who can laugh at whom?
The important question is, if we are to reflect, what can be reflected from this incident?
The common reflection is: due to the closure of the country's doors, the Chinese ignorance and backwardness, a common gift for foreigners, the launch of the program, not only laughs generously, makes friends inexplicably surprised, but also delays the Chinese their own lives - the introduction of color TV production lines is several years late.
On this reflection, I reflected on it, and found that although the closed door of the country at that time made people less knowledgeable, but the above reflection, the insight did not go anywhere, half a pound and eight two, everyone was actually stupid.
The "snail incident" was recently turned over and posted on social media. I flipped through the comments, almost as silly as reflection.
That being the case, I'm going to stimulate you and talk about my reflection on this reflection.
Isn't the whole thing the Americans at fault first? Is there a TMD that gives snails as gifts? Is that like words? Although the Americans are not deliberately satirizing Chinese "crawling" by doing this, is this not a stupidity?
What is the image of a snail in Chinese culture? What does it symbolize? It's just slowly bubbling, not thinking ahead, weak and incompetent. When a company opens, a store opens, do you send a snail craft as a gift to try? See if the Lord's family is happy or unhappy, will it give you a crisp on the spot?
The guy who borrowed the topic and said that americans used snails to satirize Chinese "crawling", why can he attract attention as soon as he says it, and make trouble all the way to the top? Or is there a reason for it? If the Americans send a small jaguar made of glass, or a giant panda, even if they send a beautiful glass cup, even if someone wants to pick something, can they pick it up?
Don't forget, the Chinese who go to the United States to investigate are going to sign huge contracts and are big patrons. What gifts to the big patron, don't you do your homework beforehand? Don't you really think about cultural differences? Do you just grab a thing from the workshop and give it as a gift?
Snails may be a common gift in the United States, but aren't you going to give them to Chinese guests? Are you sure that what Americans accept and like, Chinese will definitely accept and like? Or what Americans accept and like, Chinese should accept and like?
And let's put it in our shoes. A big American patron came to China with a group to sign a big order. Everyone talked happily, and when it was time for dinner, Chinese took the Americans to the dog meat restaurant, and, after eating, they served a large plate of watermelon in front of a few black customers.
The big boss of the United States was so angry that he got up and rolled up his sleeves and left. Or, the opposing factions in their company, taking advantage of this, said on the board of directors of the company that Chinese eat dog meat, it was too barbaric, and actually invited us to eat, and after eating, they were nakedly racist, too disrespectful to us, and could not do business with them. Yellowed the project.
How will people reflect on this situation?
Middle Eastern guests come, you bring pork knuckles; Indian guests come, you bring grilled steak, or left-handed; male guests, you send chrysanthemums; female guests, you send roses; men and women come together, you send lilies. Talk to Americans about homosexual abortion, talk to Israelis about how good the German army was in World War II...
Even if you are enthusiastic and have no malice, you are not a stunned, Biaozi, what is it?
What makes people cry and laugh is that for this kind of stunned and biaozi, the reflector actually asks those guests to reflect on their mistakes. You see, people are a piece of kindness, and, on the other side, these gifts are good things, and it is normal to talk about those topics, why do you react so strongly that people can't come to the stage in person? Are you too narrow-minded and backward?
This kind of reflection is not the kind of extreme inferiority, inferiority to the bone marrow, what is it?
In the "snail incident", it is the Americans who make mistakes first. For the big patrons from China, they have no desire to know more, and they take a gift that they usually give to the guests, completely without considering whether this gift is appropriate, whether it will violate the taboos of Chinese society, and cause an uproar. And, afterwards, Americans ignored the reaction of Chinese society and made little apology or remedy. The project was smashed, and the Americans bore the primary responsibility.
In a similar situation, if the positions of the two sides are reversed, the reflector will definitely severely criticize the Chinese, criticize the Chinese do not understand foreign-related etiquette, disregard the likes and dislikes of the big patron, make low-level mistakes, and cause the project to fail. However, as soon as the nationality is changed, the content of reflection changes.
The absurdity of this reflection is that if we break someone else's taboo, it is of course our fault. However, if someone else violates our taboo, it is still our fault. Moreover, everyone still feels that this reflection is very profound, very correct, and even very shocking, and they do not realize the absurdity of it.
I agree with the attitude that "foreign affairs are no small matter". In foreign exchanges, it is more prudent than internal exchanges, fully consider each other's cultural background and characteristics, and avoid taking others for granted. However, the point is that "foreign affairs are not trivial" is a requirement for both sides. The other party should also fully consider our cultural background and characteristics. We don't invite American guests to eat dog meat, and Americans don't give us snails as gifts. If you send it wrong, you should apologize and remedy it.
The nature of the "snail incident" is that the Americans ignored the principle of "no small matters abroad" and carelessly messed up a big business.
Speaking of which, I guess someone will definitely say: Haha, who made you weak and you poor. Americans just don't care about you, so what can you do? If the project is messed up, people don't care at all. Do not introduce the United States color TV production line, there is no color TV at home, is your countryman. Who's in a hurry who knows.
Yes, it is for this reason that the absurdity of the reflection on the "snail incident" has not been exposed. For a long time, China has been asking for people from the outside world, and its requirements for "no small foreign affairs" are particularly strict, but it is rarely required of outsiders, and its low-key humility is a bit excessive. For example, until now, the "snail incident" has been used as an example for self-criticism.
However, the year has changed after all. Today, we can ask again, who is anxious, who suffers losses and who has losses?
The introduction project was screwed up because of the botched gifts that americans had taken the liberty of giving. What Chinese lost? It is nothing more than watching color TV a few years later. To this day, China has long been the world's largest producer of color TV, with an output of 70% of the world's total output. In China, color TVs are not "big pieces" now.
What have the Americans lost? At that time, there was nothing to lose, shrugged the stall stall hand skimmed his lips, it didn't matter. But looking back now?
RCA company full name is Radio Corporation of America (American Radio Corporation), is the United States "national character" enterprise, founded by the federal government in 1919, is the inventor of a series of epoch-making products such as black-and-white television, color television, liquid crystal, etc., was once the world's broadcasting, audio and video field of giants and leaders.
Now, where has the big Mac gone? Not many people know about this company. The final news is that in 1988 RCA was acquired by Thomson in France, and then there was no news. Moreover, the United States now has no color TV manufacturers of its own. It seems that there is an OEM company, but the production is all overseas.
Because of the "snail incident", China gave up the introduction of color TV production lines from the United States, and at the same time gave up the American TV standard NTSC, and adopted the European PAL system. There are three major formats of television in the world, namely the NTSC led by the United States, the PAL dominated by Germany, and the SECAM dominated by the Soviet Union and Eastern European countries.
China was a poor country at that time, and it didn't matter which camp it joined, but now it doesn't matter, it's too important. If the RCA project was negotiated at that time, China introduced the American color TV production line, and the NTSC system would be adopted, and the American color TV would have a fast-growing large market.
Although it is not 100% certain, there is at least the possibility that RCA will be able to catch the ride of the later computer revolution with its technical advantages in display and broadcasting, coupled with the continuous revenue from the Chinese market, and it is still alive today.
Is this scene not happening, is it a loss for the Americans? Is this loss big?
The troublesome Corning Company is an example. Although the disaster was caused by Corning, at that time, Chinese did not know much about them, and recorded all the accounts on RCA and even the United States, coupled with the Chinese's "deep reflection on their own mistakes and ignorance", Corning was not much affected and has been successfully doing business in China. Today, China has become Corning's largest market outside of North America. The mobile phone panel glass you use now may be Corning's product.
If this scene really appeared, the daredevil of Corning who had been slapped by someone would definitely think indignantly: What are you doing to me? To this day, Chinese still think that we are right, and the fault is all on their side.
Further reading:
The triple historical significance of RCEP | Li Ziyang What does the real poor look like? | Li Ziyang's War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression reshaped China's national temperament | Li Zixuan From a person's experience, the reason for the chaos in Hong Kong | Plum Ziyang
Background: This article was published on the WeChat public account on April 27, 2020 by the Pencil Economic Research Society (Snail Incident - a wrong reflection that lasted for 40 years), and is reprinted with permission from Voice of the Wind.
Editor-in-Charge: Zhu Yang