New Territories. Hong Kong remained a British colony for most of
the twentieth century. British rule was interrupted only during the
Second World War, when the Japanese occupied Hong Kong from
1941 to 1945.
Aer Mao Tse-tung’s Communist forces took control of China in
1949, Hong Kong (along with Portugal’s colony of Macao) became
one of the only points of contact between China and the West. As the
People’s Republic of China consolidated its power, it became increas-
ingly clear that the United Kingdom could not keep the People’s
Liberation Army from overrunning Hong Kong. Aer long negotia-
tions, the United Kingdom agreed to give Hong Kong back to China.
e People’s Republic of China promised to respect the laws of Hong
Kong, under a policy of “one country, two systems.” e United King-
dom handed over its colony of Hong Kong to the People’s Republic
of China in 1997.
Type of Government
It is useful to remember that Hong Kong has never known self-
rule. It was a colony of the United Kingdom from 1842 to 1997; only
at the end of that period did the British allow the formation of a
locally elected body, the Legislative Council (a.k.a., the Legco). e
governor of Hong Kong was always appointed by London.
e former British colony is now the Hong Kong Special Admin-
istrative Region (SAR), part of the People’s Republic of China, which
has an authoritarian Communist government. To date, the chief
executive of the Hong Kong SAR has been chosen by 800 electors,
all of whom have been appointed by Beijing. e term of oce of the
chief executive is ve years.
Current government data can be found at the Embassy of China
at www.china-embassy.org.
Cultural Note
The British picked Hong Kong Island for its natural deep-water harbor—not for its weather.

few ethnic Chinese (but gave one to virtually all persons of British
descent). A substantial number of Hong Kong’s wealthier citizens
immigrated to Canada.
Hong Kong has its own mini-constitution, known as its Basic Law.
According to the Sino-British Joint Declaration (1984) and the Basic
Law, Hong Kong will retain its political, economic, and judicial sys-
tems for y years following the 1997 handover. Furthermore, Hong
Kong will continue to participate in international agreements and
organizations under the name “Hong Kong, China.” Consequently,
Hong Kong will keep its own special identity—at least for the next
four decades.
Less than 45 percent of Hong Kong citizens participate in some
form of religious practice. Of those who do, about 8 percent consider
themselves Christians. Most religions are represented in Hong Kong;
the city even has four Islamic mosques. However, Confucianism (a
philosophy rather than a religion) dominates the culture.
As a trading center, the citizens of Hong Kong have learned to do
business with partners from many countries. Perhaps the only coun-
try with which they have a problematic relationship is Japan. During
the Second World War, Japan occupied Hong Kong on Christmas
Day, 1941. e occupation was harsh: Many residents were executed,
while others were exiled or interred. ousands of women were
raped. Food was conscated for Japanese troops, leaving Hong Kong’s
remaining population to starve. By the end of the war, Hong Kong’s
population was down by about 1 million people.
ere have been occasional anti-Japanese protests in Hong Kong,
including one in April of 2005. However, little is taught about the
Japanese occupation in Hong Kong schools. If the younger gen-
erations have negative viewpoints about the Japanese, it is primarily
traced to Beijing’s general opposition to Japan.

To make matters even more confusing, the standard in the PRC is
year/month/date. In this format, December 3, 2010, is written as
10/12/3. Naturally, if you have any question about a date, ask.
●
Hong Kong, like China, is eight hours ahead of Greenwich Mean
Time (G.M.T. + 8), or thirteen hours ahead of U.S. Eastern Stan-
dard Time (E.S.T. + 13).
Cultural Note
Chinese names can be rendered different ways in English, so do not be surprised by variations.
Chinese normally have three names, and the most common variant is whether or not to
hyphenate the final two names.
For example, the first chief executive of Hong Kong was Tung Chee Hwa. His name can
also be rendered Tung Chee-hwa, or even Tung Cheehwa. (As with most Chinese, his surname
is listed first, so he would be referred to as “Mr. Tung.”)
Dress
●
Hong Kong residents consider themselves better dressed and
more fashionable than most Chinese. While this may be true for
much of China, there are residents of Shanghai and Beijing who
are equally stylish.
21
India
Republic of India
Cultural Note
India’s government is determined to achieve self-sufficiency, and for decades has declined
offers of outside help. In fact, after the tragic Boxing Day tsunami of 2004, not only did India
decline outside aid, it provided assistance to its neighbors.
Indians tend to be very patriotic, and most support their government’s efforts to increase
their country’s prestige. They believe that India should take its rightful place as one of the
world’s leading nations and as the leading military power in South Asia.

same. Networking, face-to-face meetings, and building relation-
ships are still the means to success in India.
●
Because some institutions have kept the old city names (for
example, the Bombay Stock Exchange, the University of Madras,
etc.) executives may keep two versions of their business cards.
e one with the newer city names are for governmental o-
cials, and the others are for international meetings with specic
companies.
●
Be aware that inadvertently supporting India’s colonial past can
generate serious repercussions with nationals. at past includes
Portuguese and French terminology as well as English. Use one of
India’s 15 ocial languages for your advertisements and market-
ing materials whenever possible, and customize your products for
Indian consumers. Also, be sure to contract with local agencies
to verify that the subtleties of your promotional materials are not
oensive.
●
Highly educated Indians enjoy heated debates and feel strongly
about defending their country’s viewpoints. Keep an open mind,
and never criticize India’s poverty, belief systems, politics, caste
system, or any business practices you may not understand or
appreciate.
●
Bargaining and negotiating is a continual lifestyle in India. Be
prepared for multiple contract iterations.
●
3
COUNTRY BACKGROUND

Jawaharlal Nehru. Power remained with the Congress Party until
1977, when Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (Nehru’s daughter) was
India 23
24 Kiss, Bow, or Shake Hands: Asia
voted out of oce. Janata Party leader Morarji Desai became prime
minister, but his Janata coalition broke up in 1979. An interim gov-
ernment called new elections, and Indira Gandhi returned to power
in 1980. She was assassinated by her own Sikh bodyguards in 1984,
and she was succeeded by her son, Rajiv Gandhi. He attempted to
steer the country toward a more market-oriented economy, but was
defeated in the 1989 elections by another Janata coalition, and Vish-
wanath Pratap Singh became prime minister.
V. P. Singh’s minority government’s most serious crisis resulted
from its determination to reserve some 49 percent of government
jobs for lower castes (which make up 54 percent of India’s 890 million
people). Insurgencies in Punjab, Kashmi, and Assam further weak-
ened the government. e Singh government fell in November 1990.
Rajiv Ghandi was assassinated during the elections of May 1991.
In 1998 the Hindu nationalist BJP party formed a coalition under
Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, and India performed their rst
nuclear tests. President Abdul Kalam, the former architect of India’s
missile program, was elected in 2002, and Manmohan Singh was
sworn in as prime minister in a surprise victory for the Congress
Party in 2004.
For current government data, visit the Embassy of India www
.indianembassy.org.
Cultural Note
On March 12, 1930, Mahatma Gandhi began a 240-mile march, on foot, from Sabarmati
to the coastal village of Dandi, in order to gather salt from the sea. The Salt March was in
direct violation of British law, because the sale or production of salt by anyone but the British

are vegetarians.
Interestingly, Hinduism is still an evolving, dynamic religion. In
some Hindu variants, new gods continue to be added to the pan-
theon. Indian lm stars sometimes nd themselves added to the
Hindu pantheon!
A minority of Indians are Muslim. Islam is a monotheistic reli-
gion with ties to both Judaism and Christianity. Shiite Muslims out-
number Sunni Muslims by about three to one in India. Surrender to
the will of Allah is a central belief. Pork and alcohol are prohibited
to observant Muslims. While the majority of Hindus and Muslims
coexist peacefully in India, violence does sometimes break out. Hun-
dreds of people in both religions have died in religious conicts.
India 25