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NEW DELHI: Chetan Chen is into technology, Deepak Xu handles marketing, and Deepika Fang is a network systems pro. And when their company needs to reach out to the public, Rajeev Yao gets into the picture.
Welcome to the charm offensive of Huawei India, a firm that is on the radars of the Indian security establishment by virtue of its place of incorporation, the People’s Republic of China. As its top brass prepares to walk extraordinary miles to get its operations going on in one of the world’s biggest telecom markets, the Chinese equipment maker is nudging its Mandarin staff to mind their names.
Ergo, this cultural revolution with a telecom twist has Chen Tian Siang, a top consultant with Huawei India, introducing himself as Chetan Chen; Ling Yong Xu, a top management executive in its customer care division, is Deepak to his Indian colleagues; Liu Fang, a senior executive with its networks division, goes by the name ‘Deepika Fang’; Li Gin, a coordinator with Huawei India, is called ‘Rosy’; and Zhao Bing, in charge of the company’s warehouse division, is just Amit. To top it all, Huawei’s spokesperson in India, Weimin Yao, is known as ‘Rajeev’ to media colleagues here.
Huawei executives carry their Indian names even on their visiting cards. Suraj, Amit, Arvind, Ravi, Rajesh and Rajeev were some of the popular names adopted by their Chinese executives in India, says a Huawei staff.
The company reasons that since Indians find it difficult to pronounce Chinese names, the Indian nomenclature helps in daily operations. This also makes Chinese executives more culturally acceptable not just to their Indian colleagues, but also to their clients and business associates in the country.
However, none of the Chinese staff who had adopted Indian names was available to comment for this story.
Huawei trend seems to be unique
On the face of it, the Huawei trend seems to be unique. TCL and Haier, two prominent Chinese firms with significant operations in India, have no such policy of their executives adopting Indian names. This is also limited to Huawei’s India operations. Executives who have done stints in other markets, including the US, say they do not routinely adopt new names to suit their assignment markets.
Huawei India spokesman Suresh Vaidyanathan says the tactic helps Chinese staff showcase solidarity with their Indian brethren, thus enhancing the overall work atmosphere. “Many Chinese employees join their Indian colleagues to celebrate Diwali, Holi and other Indian festivals and you will see Chinese women employees clad in sarees during festival seasons,” he says.
The Indianisation drive is a crucial survival strategy for Huawei, which has had a troublesome run in India ever since it set up shop in the late 90s. For years, the company battled suspicion in India over not just the nature of its ownership back home—an earlier intelligence probe into the company had shown it is owned by a former top officer of the Chinese army—but also its ability to intercept networks.
Welcome to the charm offensive of Huawei India, a firm that is on the radars of the Indian security establishment by virtue of its place of incorporation, the People’s Republic of China. As its top brass prepares to walk extraordinary miles to get its operations going on in one of the world’s biggest telecom markets, the Chinese equipment maker is nudging its Mandarin staff to mind their names.
Ergo, this cultural revolution with a telecom twist has Chen Tian Siang, a top consultant with Huawei India, introducing himself as Chetan Chen; Ling Yong Xu, a top management executive in its customer care division, is Deepak to his Indian colleagues; Liu Fang, a senior executive with its networks division, goes by the name ‘Deepika Fang’; Li Gin, a coordinator with Huawei India, is called ‘Rosy’; and Zhao Bing, in charge of the company’s warehouse division, is just Amit. To top it all, Huawei’s spokesperson in India, Weimin Yao, is known as ‘Rajeev’ to media colleagues here.
Huawei executives carry their Indian names even on their visiting cards. Suraj, Amit, Arvind, Ravi, Rajesh and Rajeev were some of the popular names adopted by their Chinese executives in India, says a Huawei staff.
The company reasons that since Indians find it difficult to pronounce Chinese names, the Indian nomenclature helps in daily operations. This also makes Chinese executives more culturally acceptable not just to their Indian colleagues, but also to their clients and business associates in the country.
However, none of the Chinese staff who had adopted Indian names was available to comment for this story.
Huawei trend seems to be unique
On the face of it, the Huawei trend seems to be unique. TCL and Haier, two prominent Chinese firms with significant operations in India, have no such policy of their executives adopting Indian names. This is also limited to Huawei’s India operations. Executives who have done stints in other markets, including the US, say they do not routinely adopt new names to suit their assignment markets.
Huawei India spokesman Suresh Vaidyanathan says the tactic helps Chinese staff showcase solidarity with their Indian brethren, thus enhancing the overall work atmosphere. “Many Chinese employees join their Indian colleagues to celebrate Diwali, Holi and other Indian festivals and you will see Chinese women employees clad in sarees during festival seasons,” he says.
The Indianisation drive is a crucial survival strategy for Huawei, which has had a troublesome run in India ever since it set up shop in the late 90s. For years, the company battled suspicion in India over not just the nature of its ownership back home—an earlier intelligence probe into the company had shown it is owned by a former top officer of the Chinese army—but also its ability to intercept networks.
