Bold, frank and aggressive, millionaire drinks king Zong Qinghou (
The charismatic founder of Wahaha Group (娃哈哈), China's biggest drinks firm, remains locked in a months-long power struggle with Danone for control of their joint venture business that for over a decade brought both sides big profits.
With the case arousing huge global and national interest, Zong, 61, has in recent weeks stepped up his fiery rhetoric against Danone, while what was once a model business of Sino-foreign cooperation has been left to flounder.
Although the feud that emerged this year is an old-fashioned business fight about ownership, it also highlights the contrasting styles between Chinese and Western business methods.
Zong, a member of China's ruling Communist Party, is a man born in the fire and brimstone era of Mao Zedong's (毛澤東) revolution, a time when Chinese relied on personal ties to get things done.
"He is a traditional Chinese man who was deeply affected by Mao Zedong," said Tang Jing, Wahaha's human resources manager from 2000 to 2005.
To listen to Zong's version of how the partnership unravelled is to hear a tale where fact and emotion are presented with equal weight.
In a letter penned in April that revealed the extent of the rift between the two companies, Zong launched a diatribe against Danone, comparing their actions to colonial powers' military campaigns against China.
"I told them the Chinese have stood up and the era of invasions by eight-country armies is long gone," he said. "Chinese people have their own national character, you are always trying to threaten us, bully us, this is only making us angry."
That Wahaha has been bullied by Danone has also been a common theme in Zong's recent meetings with the press, as has his routine use of the phrase: "Danone has hurt the feelings of the Chinese people."
Government officials in China commonly used the phrase as a way of expressing displeasure for foreign methods.
It also taps into a vague but deeply held sentiment among many Chinese that the nation was wronged by foreign powers during its semi-colonial period 150 years ago.
For Zong, a chain smoker of foreign-brand cigarettes and a self-described workaholic, the split with Danone is also about a lack of respect for his abilities.
Joining forces with Danone in 1996, Zong said he had been eager to tap Danone's expertise but had been disappointed by the stifling restrictions.
"The regulations in the contracts and the limits the board placed on me meant that I could do nothing," Zong told a group of foreign reporters last week. "Most of the decisions had to be approved by Danone board members even though they would only show up at board meetings once every quarter. How you want me to run the business under such conditions?"
Indeed, for a man who oversaw all aspects of the Hangzhou-based firm, conflicts of interest between Zong and Danone came as no surprise to Tang.
"Zong had too many roles in the Wahaha Group," Tang said. "If Wahaha wanted to develop on its own then conflicts were going to emerge sooner or later."
Of humble origins, Zong is proud of the company he built without any government money and said he had always looked out for the interest of his workers.
Starting with paper cartons before moving to beverages, Zong was able to dramatically build his business when he acquired a canned food and drinks enterprise in 1991.
"I'm wealthy but I earned every penny," Zong said.
FREEDOM OF NAVIGATION: The UK would continue to reinforce ties with Taiwan ‘in a wide range of areas’ as a part of a ‘strong unofficial relationship,’ a paper said The UK plans to conduct more freedom of navigation operations in the Taiwan Strait and the South China Sea, British Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs David Lammy told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. British Member of Parliament Desmond Swayne said that the Royal Navy’s HMS Spey had passed through the Taiwan Strait “in pursuit of vital international freedom of navigation in the South China Sea.” Swayne asked Lammy whether he agreed that it was “proper and lawful” to do so, and if the UK would continue to carry out similar operations. Lammy replied “yes” to both questions. The
‘OF COURSE A COUNTRY’: The president outlined that Taiwan has all the necessary features of a nation, including citizens, land, government and sovereignty President William Lai (賴清德) discussed the meaning of “nation” during a speech in New Taipei City last night, emphasizing that Taiwan is a country as he condemned China’s misinterpretation of UN Resolution 2758. The speech was the first in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. It is the responsibility of Taiwanese citizens to stand united to defend their national sovereignty, democracy, liberty, way of life and the future of the next generation, Lai said. This is the most important legacy the people of this era could pass on to future generations, he said. Lai went on to discuss
SECOND SPEECH: All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist the CCP, despite their differences, the president said President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday discussed how pro-Taiwan and pro-Republic of China (ROC) groups can agree to maintain solidarity on the issue of protecting Taiwan and resisting the Chinese Communist Party (CCP). The talk, delivered last night at Taoyuan’s Hakka Youth Association, was the second in a series of 10 that Lai is scheduled to give across Taiwan. Citing Taiwanese democracy pioneer Chiang Wei-shui’s (蔣渭水) slogan that solidarity brings strength, Lai said it was a call for political parties to find consensus amid disagreements on behalf of bettering the nation. All political parties should work together to defend democracy, protect Taiwan and resist
By refusing to agree spending increases to appease US President Donald Trump, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez threatened to derail a summit that NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte needs to run smoothly for the sake of the military alliance’s future survival. Ahead of yesterday’s gathering in The Hague, Netherlands, things were going off the rails. European officials have expressed irritation at the spoiler role that Sanchez is playing when their No. 1 task is to line up behind a pledge to raise defense spending to 5 percent of GDP. Rutte needed to keep Spain in line while preventing others such as Slovakia