Back in elementary school, my history teacher taught us to be careful when saying "the <people of a certain group> all..." precisely to avoid the oversimplified

Back in elementary school, my history teacher taught us to be careful when saying "the <people of a certain group> all..." precisely to avoid the oversimplified brush strokes you are using to generalize one out of six people in the world. Living with some part of said group for a lifetime, let alone a couple of years, is hardly enough to qualify someone to take on the entire group. Saying "the Chinese" all engage in shameful law-breaking practices as second nature is the sort of thinking that leads to things like banning Chinese scientists from US research programs. That said, guanxi, as a sibling post speculates, is all about trust. It's the idea that beyond a simple task at hand, there is a deeper relationship to be honored, for whatever reason. The "developed" world on the other hand loves the notion of contract and enforcement through the rule of law, so that people wouldn't need to rely on silly things like trust and good will.