At the danger of being branded racist, please consider the following:
I've visited SE Asia for some time now and most of the complaints I find are concerned with a change in mental attitude that, once understood, explain most of the scenarios listed above. Your average Chinese citizen is encouraged from birth to be a compliant team member - everything else stems from there. I call it, "The Ant Farm." Examples are many, from posthumously criticising a suicidee for being selfish in taking his own life, to the collective praise dished out by senior management, using word like team and family. Just look at the Chinese horoscopes compared to western (?) ones. The latter is mostly concerned with love, money and change management; the former is invariably linked to status and relationships at work, especially with this "Boss" person.
To take a rather fatuous extreme example to illustrate my point further, imagine a garage mechanic who is qualified on front left car wheels. This is excellent if you have a problem with your car's left front wheel, but what if it's the right front wheel? Can the mechanic extrapolate from left to right, or might he get into trouble, fear he may lose his job and income if he steps over the line and guesses?
The problem comes when flexible, individual decision making is required. A recent newspaper article stated China's concern at management trainees who were assessed in 5 areas. Consistent failings were found in 2 areas: creativity and initiative, or ability to think outside the box and take responsibility. A good example of this is when you have a problem, say, with another hotel guest who insists on having his TV volume up high at 4 in the morning. Rather than confront the miscreant, you will be offered a change of room. In their minds, you don't have a problem, you are the problem and if you go away so does the problem. HK has one of if not the best public transport systems in the world but I would hate to be physically disabled trying to get from A to B.
Now, to thread: I think we're all agreed that ATC is one of those professions that demands both creativity and initiative...
I think I've said enough.
BB