Alan doesn't even understand that he has no leverage.
He doesn't understand that he doesn't have the relationships either.
- Do you stay up drinking brandy with the Chinese till 4.00am?
- Do you help their kids come and study in Australia, keep an eye on them and bail them out if they get into trouble?
- Do you help their extended family and friends with "Immigration" matters?
- Do you wine and dine them as a family in your own home when they visit Australia?
- Do you "facilitate" a little foreign exchange movement for them?
- Do you have several of your executives and Board members doing this on a daily basis?
- Have you trained a raft of senior Qantas executives who are fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese?
- Do you have the brains to sort out the "main chancers" (ie: "My uncle is a Politburo member") from the genuine article?
Do you persevere at this for Five to Seven years while they decide if you are genuine or not?
Sadly no. The Chinese will then rightly decide that you are just another western get rich quick merchant and you will be treated accordingly.