Whether in business or other settings, Chinese people will often demonstrate a notable lack of contentiousness, preferring to say indirectly what an American would not hesitate to say frankly.

If one's professional or social senior in China errs in some way, the junior will seldom correct or criticize him. This is in part because doing so would cause the senior to lose face, which is undesirable. One does not want to be the reason another loses face. Others take a dim view of someone who caused another to lose face in this way.

When constructive criticism is invoked by a senior, or even by an equal, the response from a Chinese person will probably not be very candid. An articulate Chinese person will attempt to use polite conversation to lead the person requesting the criticism to arrive at the same opinion as is felt by the person of whom the...
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