Asia

ASIA IS A VAST continent, home to around one half of the world's population. It encompasses the deserts of Arabia to the west, the frozen wastes of [Page 60]Siberia to the north and the heavily populated cities of India and China to the south and east. Each part of the continent has been home to a variety of ethnic groups, cultures, and religions. As these have met and interacted, it is no surprise that a great number of attitudes and approaches to business have developed over the years.

As a result, the relationships between business organizations, government and society are significantly different across the continent. Although there has been a degree of homogenization of systems as a result of the emergent dominance of Western style capitalism and globalization, significant differences still remain.

When members of different systems came into contact with each other, there can be an appearance of abuse as well as its substance. For example, in many parts of mainland Southeast Asia there is a legacy of voluntary bondage as security for loans or to meet debit payments, that has become aligned with some forms of industrial working conditions considered unacceptable by most of the Western world. Similarly, the need perceived by successive administrations of South Korea to create a strong industrial base to mitigate against the possibility of invasion by North Korea has led to systemic attacks on workers' ability to organize themselves into labor unions. Throughout the continent, the spectre of communism has been used to justify strong government-business links which have given rise to some large-scale conflicts of interest as well as abuse of the working classes. Conflicts of interest have often focused on the ownership of natural resources and the right to profit from their exploitation, often linked with environmental degradation, the maintenance of secrecy regarding business agreements when security interests are cited, and the practice of business people buying undue influence with government officials and agencies.

Tokyo, Japan, has its own variety of business and corporate crime.

Hong Kong, China, has remnants of British colonial corruption.

Shanghai, China, mixes capitalism crimes with communist politics.