I have been working in an office whose history and mission are very much related to Taiwanese politics and civilian diplomacy. I do translation, liaison with foreign offices and stuff, but I just started it so am mostly seeing and learning how things work there.
I only have a little working experience in Tokyo and New York, and I never worked in the business field. But I think the whole purpose of the work of our organization is somewhat different from that of normal companies. The organization does not sell products or services. It makes 關係 (connections). Since there is no customers, no products, no whatever, but politicians of all over the world (and it is my job to ask them to support Taiwan), it is not clear for me which part of the social dynamics/cycles the organization fits into; in other words I sometimes feel like it is only working for its own sake.
It is probably how politics works. I mean, politics in many senses that exist everywhere including the business world and academics. We often use the word "捧場" which means "to attend it because you have a close and good connection with the host, and want to make the host happy" (there must be a more appropriate definition!!) . It is important to do "捧場" for each other where politics exists. That is how 關係 affairs work, and how many people are willing to 捧場 for you determines your political power.
Posted by sayaka at January 6, 2005 02:43 PM | TrackBack