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Comment by joering2 | Hacker News Reader

When you mentioned Germany, I chuckled a little. Worked there for many years and corruption and lack of professionalism I witness in IT section was astonishing. At least here in US corporate corruption is not blunt; nobody here - like it happened to me in Germany - will meet you for the first time, listen to your case and then ask for $15,000 Euro bribe.

Here is a good start how terrible German ethics are:

https://www.dw.com/en/image-problems-mount-in-corporate-germ...

And then my favorite case of corrupted to the core Siemens:

https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-the-massive-siemens...

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Thanks for the contrast. We also know the VW scandal. As I said, this is a broad generalization from my own experience with mid-sized firms in China. I can only expect larger unethical behavior with CCP members in the board meetings.

At least in EU/Germany, you don't have the Government asking you to do shady things without due process. Worse, unspoken threat and chilling effect executives and leadership team would have to appease the CCP members. There was a recent example of this - Jack Ma.

How’s Jack Ma related to your trust in Hua wei? It was a different company and it wasn’t just random interference from the government it was the other way round. Jack Ma started using his position to interfere with government.

I think it's very much related. Can you imagine Jeff Bezos disappearing for 2 months because he didn't appease the US Feds?

Now imagine the chilling effect it would send to the rest of the executives from small to large corporations.

It’s not comparable... China isn’t a democracy and free speech isn’t a thing.

Can I imagine Jeff bezos being arrested for committing a federal crime: yes

Speaking out against the government is a crime? Did Jack Ma get a trial?

Yes. It is a crime. Depending on the type of crime, you may or may not get a public trial.

> It’s not comparable... China isn’t a democracy and free speech isn’t a thing.

And that makes it right? Or are we on the "it's their culture, so we aren't allowed to be critical of it" bandwagon?

You can be critical, sure. But applying your sense of right and wrong doesn’t make much sense.

In my eyes, Jeff Bezos is constantly disappearing. I mean, he's only in the media spotlight once every few months right? I'd dread to think what happens to him while he's missing during those media lapses...

Can you imagine a billionaire implicated in child sex scandal and with potential dirt on many politicians mysteriously dying in jail?

> At least in EU/Germany, you don't have the Government asking you to do shady things without due process.

Sure? https://www.dw.com/en/internet-exchange-de-cix-accuses-germa...

I've worked for a few German mega-corps and I was always struck by how in point their "anti-bribery" training was. It kind of felt like a "how-to" course on bribery where they just tell you not to do the thing at the end.

Kind of like those anti-drug campaigns in schools where the police would tell you about all the different drugs and how not to use them. "This here is crack cocaine, it's like regular cocaine but cheaper and more effective. Most people put the crack rock into a glass tube and light it with a torch. Now smoking crack makes your body feel better than anything in the world. So don't do it." Then they tell you how to spot a drug dealer and let you know that most offer free samples.

Regarding Siemens it reminds me of John Perkins' book Confessions of an Economic Hit Man about the engineering firm Chas T Main. Bribes are merely one technique to obtain power by companies like these. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confessions_of_an_Economic_Hit...

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