Abstract

The recent events in China's Tiananmen Square sent a deep shudder throughout the boardrooms of many firms in the U.S., Western Europe, and Japan. While most companies doing business in the PRC have generally felt somewhat uneasy about the overall business environment and the associated risks of making a significant commitment of resources to China, the fact is that with each passing year of the "open door" policy, foreign business confidence had begun to grow. Much of this growing confidence, however, was eroded by the actions of the Chinese leadership on June 4, 1989. What the future will bring as far as foreign investment is concerned remains uncertain as large numbers of foreign companies once active in China adopt a "wait and see" attitude, hoping-though probably with some ambivalence, that the hard work and successes of the past decade will not have come to naught.