May 25, 2012, - 2:48 pm

HA! China Pays Jews to Sit @ Biz Meetings & Look Smart

By Debbie Schlussel

When I began to read this, I wondered, “why didn’t I get in on this action?” But then I realized you have to be male and speak Mandarin Chinese. Plus, most people tell me I don’t “look Jewish”–their way of saying, hey, don’t all Jews have hooked noses, frizzy hair, and look ugly, per the false stereotypes that pervade the world? And then there’s the fact that I didn’t go to Ted Kaczynzki’s alma mater. Still, even with this new Chinese phenomenon–heavily-laden with stereotypes, it sounds like it could be quite lucrative for the right person. Sitting there and “looking smart and Jewish” isn’t exactly a tough job. Is it?

yellowstar.jpg

“I Want Jew (to Sit There & Look Smart)”

For those curious about the Chinese “Rent a White Guy” phenomenon, whereby a Chinese company will employ a foreigner part-time to sit near the front of an office or to join in on meetings because it apparently adds a level of sophistication, here’s how they get hired. I received this yesterday from a contact in Beijing, who agreed to it being posted . . . .


The reason I’m contacting you is because today I had a meeting with a contact of mine (deleted) who asked me for some assistance in finding people for some part-time work in Beijing. Essentially they are in the business of (deleted.) They are looking for some Americans to act as assistants in meetings with potential investors, and essentially act as the “white face” to give some more credibility to the project. He said it would need assistance for about 3-4 meetings per month, maybe more, maybe less – it all depends on how the business goes. Of course this will be a paid job, but I have not discussed any payment amount or payment terms so you would have to negotiate that yourself.

The first requirement of the job is that you must be an advanced Mandarin Chinese speaker, since the meetings will all be with Chinese people. Also men only, no females. The other requirement is that you must have some sort of background that Chinese people typically value. My contact is (deleted) and is slightly obsessed with Jewish people and thinks they are the smartest, so he naturally prefers this person to be Jewish. If he can’t get someone Jewish, he would also like someone who went to a famous university — Harvard, Yale, etc. Besides those 2 qualifications, I’m sure he’d be happy with someone who has some sort of connection to someone famous or important, or maybe someone who is really tall and handsome. Basically any characteristic that Chinese people are impressed by – he is looking for in this person. Of course it wouldn’t hurt if this person was good-looking, well-dressed, etc. – I think you can get it.

While the Chinese saved many European Jews during the Holocaust by letting them live in Shanghai, the fact is that Asians harbor a lot of anti-Semitism (and China is helping Iran in its nuclear aspirations to wipe the Jews off the map–you can be they ain’t hiring Jews to attend and “look smart” at those meetings). I also believe that those who espouse the positive stereotypes about Jews (many of them with a lot of truth to them)–that they are smart, good in business, etc.–also embrace the negative, evil stereotypes about Jews.

It’s a good bet that this person who wants a “smart-looking Jew” to sit in on his company’s meetings doesn’t really think that highly of Jews.

And they definitely don’t think highly of China’s Jews. Yes, there is a small community of Chinese Jews. But, clearly, the employer in question wants a American, stereotypical-looking Jews.




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13 Responses

Its still interesting they think highly of Jews in China and non-Muslim Asia. This would be unimaginable in the Muslim World.

That’s kinda progress over there.

NormanF on May 25, 2012 at 2:51 pm

    Although many people from China (and elsewhere for that matter) generally recognize that Jewish people have long excelled at business, finance, and economics (or are “good with money” in the commpon parlance), some very well educated people from China know that Jewish people excel in virtually every area of human endeavor involving the mind.

    Think of the Manhatten Project, for example, in which the fate of humanity was at stake. The goal: to develop and create nuclear weapons for the West. Had the Nazis or Communists been the first to develop the bomb, many more millions and millions of people would have been killed and that would have been the end of civilization.

    For the Manhatten Project, the greatest minds in the world were brought together, and the Project was run more like business than a government agency, with that one goal in mind. Of special note here, MOST of the top scientists working on the Project were Jewish or half-Jewish. For example, and this is not a comprehensive list (in no particular order):

    John Von Neumann
    Leo Szizlard
    Eugene Wigner
    Otto Robert Frisch
    Niehls Bohr
    J. Robert Oppenheimer
    Edward Teller

    Each of these scientists was absolutely brilliant and most of them were geniuses. (And no, not one of these scientists, mathematicians, and thinkers went to Harvard, the alma mater of Ted Kaczynski, aka the “ Unabomber”; nor is Kaczynski Jewish.)

    Civilization owes these Jewish men much thanks. For had they not succeeded through sheer brilliance, determination, and passion, many more great minds would have been lost forever, in addition to those who perished at the hands of the Nazis and Communists.

    Most Chinese people (and even Americans for that matter), however, do not really know that much about the achievments of Jewish people, apart from those with expertise/success with money. Here’s a clip of the more common Chinese perceptions about Jewish people: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mF02MZRE5vc

    Ralph Adamo on May 27, 2012 at 5:22 pm

they also seek US and european engineers to come over and work on a project, train their chinese engineers in the ways of western customer contact, use of popular CAD systems, quality engineering and other such quirks and specfifics of engineering in the west, and then leave when the project is completed.

this gig sounds much more cushy…

kirche on May 25, 2012 at 3:36 pm

Debbie, in one of my last jobs, I had a female Chinese colleague who was married to a Jew, and left her job after she had her baby. I know that she wouldn’t qualify, but had it been a Chinese guy who embraced Judaism, would it have?

Looks like white guys could brush up on their Mandarin or even Cantonese (hey, there are positions in Hong Kong and Guangzhou).

The Chinese anti-Semitism, from what I understand, comes from bunching Muslims and Jews together, since Arabs and Jews are both ‘Semites’, and therefore, to these great Orientals, the same. The thing about the Chinese is that nobody runs w/ the hares and hunts w/ the hounds better than they do. On one hand, they are not only helping Iran and Syria, but they have for the longest time been in bed w/ Pakistan, which aside from its Muslim allies, is very allied w/ Beijing due to the mutual rivalry w/ India.

Otoh, the Chinese have their problems not only w/ the Tibetans (who deserve support), but also w/ the Uyghurs – that is the Turkic Chinese Muslims living in the Western provinces of the country, and fighting a jihad to secede from China. Of course, nobody deals w/ Muslim separatists better than China – they deliberately settle Han Chinese in Xinxiang (just like they do in Tibet) to dilute the Uyghur population. And unlike the Gitmo detainees, you don’t want to be an enemy combatant prisoner of China – they’ll happily harvest your organs and sell it for a windfall in the black market. That’s part of why Obama tried settling Uyghur jihadis to island paradises like Bermuda, Polynesia and so on.

Maybe the Israelis could start holding meetings on how to have similar policies in Judea, Samaria and if it comes to that stage, Gaza and Sinai. And in those meetings, they could have female Hebrew speaking Chinese attend to give such meetings that ‘international’ look, and yeah, make it look like whatever’s being discussed is standard operating procedure. But they don’t need to be Jewish – in fact, followers of Sun Tzu would be ideal, thank you! 😉

Infidel on May 25, 2012 at 3:59 pm

CCTV did a well received series on Jewish history on Chinese television.

There is much interest in Israel since the Jews and the Chinese are the oldest civilizations in the world and in different ways, they preserved their identity.

And the Chinese want to learn how Israel became an advanced country in such a short time.

There are native Chinese Jews but very few of them exist and outwardly they are like the Han but they don’t eat pork and observe the Torah.

The same is true of the Bene Israel in India who resemble the native Marathi in appearance and customs but have had their own unique Jewish language and they adhere to the Sephardi rite. There are still synagogues in Mumbai but since nearly all of them moved to Israel, they primarily attract Israelis and foreign Jewish tourists.

NormanF on May 25, 2012 at 4:33 pm

    Just a guess, but I think the fascination of the Chinese
    for Jews is because of the stereotype that the Chinese are the “Jews of Asia.” King Rama VI, an anti-Semite, called the successful Chinese in Thailand the “Jews of Asia” and originated the term.

    The Chinese settled in large numbers throughout Southeast Asia in the 1800’s and have been the ones who have been the most successful and powered the economies of the region. It is not surprising because the Muslim Malays, for example, are so lazy and can only steal the wealth of others, like all Muslims.

    The Chinese in China are well aware of the term “Jews of Asia,” and because they, knowing Mohammed Mahathir of Malaysia’s comments about Jews, harbor the same false stereotype that Jews somehow control the Western economies, want to learn more about and be associated with Jews.

    JM on May 25, 2012 at 5:32 pm

China and Israel have quietly expanded security, diplomatic, and commercial relations of late:

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4231976,00.html

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/345464/20120525/china-israel-iran-military-ties-security-beijing.htm

This is very wise policy on the part of Israel. The US isn’t a dependable ally any more, and cozier relations with China may help to reduce the level of cooperation with Iran. The Chinese are going to have to decide whether they prefer Iranian energy or Israeli technology and know-how.

I would expect more Indian-Israeli cooperation in the future, as well. When you’re tech savvy, smart, strategically located, and sport wide intelligence networks, as the Israelis do, you tend to find friends. Russia can have its alliance with Syria, and the Europeans and Americans can court perfidious Arabs all they want. Good luck with that!

adam on May 25, 2012 at 5:41 pm

Things like this are done in the United States too. There are doctors and lawyers who use Jewish names (maybe from a remote ancestor) to give the impression they are Jewish because they think it will enhance their client base.

Little Al on May 25, 2012 at 7:03 pm

I would be more concerned with China’s foreign policy priorities, which are quite hostile towards Israel. This businessman is just trying to pick up some tokens to dress up his staff. I would advise anyone even considering such a position to think twice. If the employer discovers that having a few token Jews does not draw in more clients or significantly improve the firm’s reputation, the token Jews will find themselves out of a job and stranded. Labor laws in China are quite rudimentary and often go unenforced. This situation would probably be even truer in the case of a foreigner.

Worry01 on May 25, 2012 at 10:51 pm

An old Chinese guy and an old Jewish guy are feeding pigeons in a NYC park.The Jewish guy says”I notice the Chinese are very wise”and the Chinese guy says”well,sure,we have a 4000 year old civilization”.Then he says”I notice Jews are very wise also”.The Jewish guy says”well,we have a 5000 year old civilization”to which the Chinese guy starts sputtering”that’s impossible-where did your people eat for 1000 years”?

Joe on May 25, 2012 at 11:38 pm

There’s a LOT of antisemitism in Asia… Yes, much if not most of it is “positive” rather then “negative” but it’s racism nonetheless…

Of course, considering that racism (e.g. Japanese v.s. Chinese v.s. Korean) is really rampant it doesn’t surprise me that they would also hold antisemitic views…

BTW, I have lived for a couple of years in Japan and go regularly to China for business so I have first hand experience of my claims…

Hans on May 26, 2012 at 8:25 am

OK… so you saved the lives of tens of thousands of Jews escaping Hitler… but what have you done for me lately?
Not your best article Debbie. China has a far kinder history toward the Jews than the USA. Try not to knock what you don’t understand.

Arn on May 27, 2012 at 11:29 am

The story of the Shanghai Ghetto for Jews is an interesting one. The paternal grandfather of actor Logan Lerman spent his teenage years in the Jewish section of Shanghai after leaving Berlin. So did composer Otto Joachim.

dee on May 30, 2012 at 3:40 pm

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