The Golden Bridge: an explorative study on Philippine ethnic Chinese business firms and their ties with Chinese businesses

Abstract

In Asia, it is an accepted truth that the Chinese people have been perfecting the craft of mercantilism, which can be related to their form of capitalism today. From its early day form to the present day dogma, capitalism has been riddling the world with lopsided deals and onerous transactions that almost always favor those who have more capital. This facet is a mere precipitation of the cultural factors that shape the Chinese version of capitalism. In this thesis, the researcher aimed to thresh the cultural and social factors, specifically familism and personal relations, of the ethnic Chinese that are in the Philippines. The growth from a family business to hybrid corporations, and even the globalization of the selected firms are discussed. Three business firms were used as case studies for this paper, in the hopes to substantiate the already existing data on the globalization of Chinese business firms. Through extensive research and personal interviews, a pattern of nuclear family ownership towards a globalized firm was detected, all adhering to akin personal relationships. This phenomenon is easy to sympathize with when one tries to remain neutral, with no regard for social significance, simply explaining the event as it is. Even when the garnered data does not completely show the imbalance that one Chinese firm creates, may it be located in the Philippines or in China, an inference can be made that the perpetuation and proliferation of Capitalism tips the economic scale towards the forces of hegemony and power.