Though non-lawyers who deal with China love to talk of how “uncertain” everything legal is there, the boring reality is that we lawyers who constantly deal with Chinese legal issues tend to read things there the same way nearly every time. Sure we sometimes jabber back and forth about whether it is better to arbitrate in Hong Kong and then try to get the arbitration award enforced in Shanghai, or just arbitrate in Shanghai from the get go. But on the big issues, there is usually no dispute.
We lawyers generally think alike when it comes to legal issues.
I thought of all this after just having read a really phenomenal post by Stan Abrams over at his China Hearsay blog. The post is about a United States cleantech company that is extolling how much more cooperative the Chinese government is than the United States government. Stan entitled the post, “U.S. Tech Startups: China Is Coming For You” and I am not sure whether he intentionally sought to reference the horror movie idea of a monster coming for you, but if he did not, he should have.
To grossly summarize Stan’s post and to add my own probably blunter spin to it, the post is says the following:
1. The media story on which Stan’s post is based is really vague. It is certainly vague if you are a lawyer trying to figure out what is really going on. This only increases the sense of dread. Who and what is really lurking out there?
2. The article along with probably 98% of its readers are of the view that everything is and will be great for this US company in China. Stan sees a big giant IP sucking zombie with a bloody axe.
3. Stan is trying to remain calm, but he is completely freaking out.
Me, I am so worried for this U.S. company that I could only scan the post once and now I cannot even return to it. I am not kidding. Reading that post was like getting punched in the stomach (actually even lower, but no need to get graphic here). It is like seeing a little kid on a train track and then realizing a train is rapidly approaching. It really is that bad and if you have been involved with China (or really any other emerging market economy), you know exactly what I am talking about here.
I just hope the kid jumps off the track before it is too late.
Read Stan’s post and let us know how it makes you feel.
