DUBLIN -- I can count on two hands the number of mobile phone calls I have received from Chinese during the past two months. That number is more than double the contacts I have ever had with joint intercontinental development of technology in Asia.
Why it's happening:
- I supervise an Irish-born Chinese software developer.
- Enterprise Ireland has offices in the Beijing Lufthansa Centre, including space for incubators. Alan Hobbs heads the office.
- The Taoiseach, the Tanaiste and the President have visited China to develop foreign earning in the Asia-Pacific region. Five minutes at a reception with these politicians can generate more potential contacts than six months of traditional networking.
- The Chinese Premier has visited Ireland twice in three years.
- Iona Technologies has won business with the Shanghai Stock Exchange and the Beijing Traffic Bureau.
- Earnings from foreign students into Ireland are worth €200m annually and there are millions of Chinese college students interested in exchange programmes. That's the conclusion of the International Education Board of Ireland, set up in the Beijing Lufthansa Centre.
- Shanghai Xunda Professional Services has a direct link to Tipperary Institute, opening the possibilities for joint talks between Chinese and Irish software developers.
Posting this short synopsis reminds me about the importance of direct communications with Chinese colleagues. One important fact is people I visit through e-mail in Shanghai cannot read comments on this blog that contain the word "Chinese." Typepad domain administrators know this from user feedback.
We have heard reports from some Chinese TypePad users that they can not access their public weblogs but can access the TypePad application. We've heard from some weblog readers in China that they are able to access TypePad weblogs.We are pretty confident that there is not a technical reason on our end for the problems some Chinese users are having accessing their sites.
Frankly, because we are not in China, we can't be 100% sure of the exact cause and effects of the situation and to what degree our customers are being affected. I can say that we are trying to get to the bottom of this situation and trouble-shoot why some users aren't able to access their sites.
Now, if you're a TypePad user in China and are experiencing a problem accessing your site (or are in China are not having problems), please open a help ticket. Right now we don't have a definitive answer on what's going on, but it would help to know where exactly in China you're located. It may, in fact, be a regional issue.
Miriam Donohoe -- "Irish step up efforts to build tech links in China" in The Irish Times Business This Week, May 14, 2004.
Typepad -- "China and Typepad"
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