Growing mistrust will result from 'no comments' or denials
Companies, public relations firms and the media have to work together to ensure fairness in reporting or history will be the judge
While some scholars praise China for being a more open society, the business world in China is apparently the other way round.
Doing business in China is becoming more important than ever amid an economic slowdown in the West in recent years, and it's also getting less transparent.
Some companies, including some major listed companies, will typically say "no comment" or even deny whatever is reported in the media that they think is negative.
Some companies also get more arrogant as they get richer.
The most recent example is whether UBS financed a secret loan deal to allow Thai billionaire Dhanin Chearavanont to complete his eye-catching acquisition of a major stake in Ping An, China's No 2 life insurer.
Last Friday Reuters reported, citing unnamed sources, that UBS's financial backing for the Ping An deal included a five-year, roughly US$5.5 billion loan, one of the largest loans of its kind ever extended in Asia. The confirmed the Reuters report.
But in the end CDB chose to give up on the deal.
Dhanin, a Thai-Chinese who controls the poultry-to-property industrial giant CP Group, is not alone in such battles against the press.
I once described the relationship between businesses, especially public relations professionals working for those businesses, and the media like this: we are in the same boat but we look for different scenes. You tell the true story or whatever you feel comfortable to say to help me understand what you can see, and I will use my news judgment to combine all factors together to produce a fair story.
I believe if there is only a "no comment" or a denial left in the boat, there will just be growing mistrust. Sooner or later, time and history will tell the public the truth.
