China Takes Off: Technology Transfer and Modernization by E. E. Bauer

Abstract

180 Book Reviews TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE seen as the representatives of employers; the tendency of engineers to avoid involvement in potentially contentious situations; and the re­ lationship between trade unions and professional associations. On this last point, the author accepts too readily the traditional interpre­ tation of professional engineering institutions as interest groups, without appreciating their important historical role as means of selfimprovement and education. The author’s judgment on most of the issues that he discusses is generally sound. But it derives only incidental and anecdotaljustifica­ tion from the survey of two anonymous British engineering firms that is the core of the book. Thejudgment about engineers and scien­ tists quoted above, for instance, reflects an appraisal from a much wider basis of evidence than that contained in the answers to Whalley’s questionnaire submitted to engineers in the firms of his choice. The book, in short, succeeds in stimulating reflection on some important aspects of modern industrial relations and the role of engineers in society, despite a largely irrelevant methodology. R. Angus Buchanan Dr. Buchanan is director of the Centre for the History of Technology, Science and Society at the University of Bath. He is currently working on a history of the engi­ neering professional institutions. China Takes Off: Technology Transfer and Modernization. By E. E. Bauer. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1986. Pp. xvi+227; illustrations, notes. $20.00. This is an interesting book with a misleading title. It is not a gen­ eral account of technology transfer to China; rather, it is a personal account of Boeing’s customer support manager in China. From Janu­ ary 1980 to December 1984, E. E. Bauer played an important role in the modernization of China’s commercial air fleet, putting him in a prime position to observe the actual process of technological modernization. This on-the-spot experience gives an immediacy to the narrative that is not often found in more abstract accounts of tech­ nology transfer. Here the myriad problems of bringing advanced technology to a poor nation become painfully apparent. Hydraulic pumps fail prematurely because inferior Chinese-made seals and gas­ kets do not meet specifications. Non-reusable filter cartridges are su­ perficially cleaned and reused, leading to more failures. The translation of technical manuals takes months, and, when they fi­ nally appear, the mechanics generally ignore them. The complexity ofjet aircraft coupled with a severe shortage of in­ digenous skills and infrastructure made problems of this sort inevita­ ble. But they were exacerbated by the system of economic organization that prevailed in China for much of the author’s stay. Rigid centralization and an overwhelming emphasis on hierarchy re­ sulted in the stifling of initiative, an unwillingness to take responsibil­ TECHNOLOGY AND CULTURE Book Reviews 181 ity, and an agonizingly slow response to problems as they arose. Bauer recites these shortcomings over and over, interspersing them with continual complaints about living accommodations, travel ar­ rangements, and the harshness of the climate. This endless carping becomes tedious, especially when it is mixed with patronizing state­ ments about his hosts, for example, “The Chinese are a happy, gen­ tle people. Artistry is their finest talent” (p. 102). Is it possible that Bauer is completely ignorant of China’s historic scientific and techno­ logical legacy? I also grew impatient with Bauer’s narratives of his junkets to vari­ ous parts of China. They are familiar travelers’ tales, and they add nothing to the substance of the book. Of equally dubious value are his rehashes of stories that originally appeared in Western maga­ zines and newspapers. Many of them are tangential, and in any event they have been covered with greater insight and thorough­ ness elsewhere. The narrative is also occasionally marred by factual errors, as when Machimpex, China’s machine-importing agency, is identified as the agency responsible for machine building (p. 120). After recounting his frustrations over China’s slow rate of technol­ ogy absorption, Bauer curiously ends on an optimistic note. Signs of progress had become evident, as when Chinese mechanics did a first-rate repair job on a damaged wing section. More generally, after years of Maoist misrule, the policies initiated by Deng Xiaoping have given China...