If you want to understand China ...

• Author: Kiernam, Peter D.
• Position: Column

From Becoming China's Bitch by Peter D. Kiernan. Copyright [c]2012 by the author. Published by Turner Publishing Co. (www.turnerpublishing.com).

IN THE LATE SEVENTIES, I moved to Tokyo as director of Asian business development for American media conglomerate Capital Cities Communications. No matter how lofty the title sounded, it meant traveling solo to countries like Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China in the hopes of peddling trade news to emerging Asian nations.

As with many directors of business development in Asia back then, most of my work was done on my own. I would check into the Lotte Hotel in Seoul, or the Mandarin in Hong Kong, or the Les Suites Taipei, and I would be the only Cap Cities employee for thousands of miles. Self-reliance was a job requirement. And I learned the value of curiosity ... especially when dealing in Asia.

One day in the Republic of China, after a series of disastrous meetings in Taipei, I consoled myself at the resplendent Buddhist Longshan Temple. I was blessed back then with a mop of blonde hair and a crowd of youngsters was captivated by it. A hundred children swarmed, all reaching out to touch me, pat my head, and occasionally yank at my hair. The bronze dragons on the right and left pillars of the main...