POWER ON THE PACIFIC RIM : America From Abroad : Asians May Like Americans but They Respect the Japanese : A ‘McDonaldized’ U.S. approach doesn’t help in Pacific Rim business dealings, executives say.

Americans are generous and the Japanese are selfish. The Japanese are polite and Americans are brash. Americans are impatient and the Japanese persevere.

Americans may be more well-liked than the Japanese, who still stir black and bitter memories among many Asians for the wartime conquest of their countries. Americans are also viewed as better teachers, both by virtue of the U.S. higher education system and by what is perceived to be a greater willingness to transfer technology and know-how to their Asian partners.

But, as business leaders, the Japanese appear to be more respected. And in the long run, it is the Japanese who will prevail as the leading economic power in the region because of their deep pockets of wealth, product quality, insatiable appetite for information, perseverance, industriousness and familiarity with the rites of the Asian business culture.

Right or wrong, fair or not, these are the perceptions of the United States and Japan from business executives, economists and academics in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan; Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand; Korea and the Philippines. Beyond the statistics, which show Japan on the rise and America fading in regional economic influence, interviews around the Pacific Rim reveal a rich panoply of respect and resentment, envy and awe, fear and frustration with the region’s two premier economic powers.

“By far, the Japanese are on top of the Americans,” said Willy Tjen, an Indonesian-American business executive of Chinese descent who now lives in Los Angeles. “It’s not necessarily because they are better business people. But they are patient and persistent. They open an office and say, ‘OK, if I don’t get my money now maybe next week; if not next week then maybe next month.’

“The Americans say, ‘Oh, that’s too far away. I want it now.’ ”

Despite respect for the Japanese business savvy, Tjen, like many other Asians interviewed, views Tokyo’s growing economic clout in the region with a twinge of alarm.

“If a person bullies and beats you at home, you will remember it for your whole life,” said one Chinese businessman, who runs a T-shirt trading firm in Beijing. Although the businessman, in his late 20s, is too young to have experienced the Japanese occupation himself, he said he felt a deeper “hatred” of the Japanese than the Americans and claimed 70% of Chinese probably felt the same way.

He may not be far off the mark. In 1986, a Japanese news agency mailed questionnaires to 120 employees of Chinese government agencies and institutions. While 80% valued Japanese products, only 18% felt friendly toward the Japanese people.

In an interview this month, former prime minister of Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, said there was an “underlying unease” about Japan throughout Asia, exacerbated by the nation’s failure to forthrightly admit its wartime errors. In contrast to Germany, he said, Japan has not yet faced its own history nor eliminated its guilt through a national catharsis.

As a result of the lingering mistrust toward Japan, several Asians interviewed urged U.S. businesses to reinvest in the region as a way of countering the Japanese clout. In addition, many say they simply prefer to work with Americans.

“The Japanese will seek to dominate. The Americans are more equitable, looking favorably on merit,” said Sudhisakdi Manibhandu, a Thai investment banker and partner in Manistee Ltd.

“Thais on the whole would prefer to have an American partner, but you can’t get them. There is a perception that U.S. industry is not interested in overseas markets. Even though the Japanese predominate here, it is not necessarily a matter of choice.”

Kim Woo Chong, chairman of the Daewoo Group in South Korea, might attest to that. Daewoo is noted for its reluctance to deal with the Japanese, and most of its joint ventures are with American firms. But after its U.S. partner, General Motors, refused to support its proposal to produce a “mini-car,” Daewoo turned to Suzuki Motor Co. It licensed the necessary technology from the Japanese auto maker, established a new automobile company and produced a four-door hatchback scheduled to go on sale next week in Korea.

To be sure, Asian perceptions about Japan may not reflect reality. Several Japanese firms, such as Hitachi and Toshiba, argue that they have been exceedingly fair about transferring technology to their partners in Asia and elsewhere.

In addition, it is virtually impossible to generalize about any particular “national sentiment” toward the U.S. and Japan. If the Daewoo Group balks at working with Japan, two other Korean conglomerates--the Samsung Group and Hyundai Group--are known for their receptiveness.

In general, however, three distinct images repeatedly surfaced in interviews.

Americans are more generous, the Japanese more selfish.

Americans are given higher marks for transferring technology and know-how to their Asian partners, for promoting local staff to top management, for more equitable arrangements in joint-venture agreements.

They are also praised for greater support of the local community through corporate philanthropy and use of local services. Ventures cited ranged from sponsoring concerts in Taiwan to teaching agriculture to the local community in Irianjaya, Indonesia, as part of a U.S. copper-mining venture.

The Japanese, in contrast, are criticized as stingy. The perception is that they keep their best technology, top management posts, vendor contracts, most of their profits and even their friendships among themselves.

“They want to take and not give,” said Tjen, the Indonesian-American executive.

The images are born from small scenes, such as seeing Japanese eating only with other Japanese or patronizing only Japanese vendors. Ting Tin-yu, a professor of sociology at National Taiwan University, says Americans “probably would go (to lunch) with Chinese more than Japanese do, or even Europeans.” Ting also said American executives are more apt to lunch with their local office workers, whereas the Japanese concern for hierarchy would tend to prevent such mingling.

“There is a common belief in Indonesia that what the Japanese are doing is more for their own direct benefit,” said an executive with a major Indonesian firm. “For instance, if they build a hotel, the hotel has Japanese shops, restaurants, everything is Japanese. All the money goes back to Japan. Americans tend to also increase the quality of life for the people where they invest.”

In addition, one Malaysian official said, Americans are more prepared to let local people run the show once they prove themselves. “We have companies that are 100% owned by Americans and 100% run by Malaysians,” he said. That was not the case with Japan, he said.

One Japanese business executive said most of his colleagues would be shocked to learn about such images. Part of the problem, he said, is a gap in expectations: In Japan, the private sector has historically been expected only to make money, while tasks such as “serving the community” have been the province of government.

The Japanese better understand the Asian business culture.

The Japanese are seen as more polite, less direct. And at least in trying to cultivate new business opportunities, they are considered more willing to spend the necessary time to forge the personal relationships critical to Asians. The Americans too often rush in, expect to start business right away and often end up stepping on local toes.

For instance, the Japanese understand how to use intermediaries to get to people in higher positions and how to wait until the necessary personal relationships are developed. “The Americans tend to go through brick walls,” one Indonesian executive said.

“If a Japanese comes to you, they would normally give you a present, similar to an Indonesian,” he added. “An American just comes to you with a briefcase, a pen, a checkbook and a contract--everything stipulated in fine print, very fine.”

That’s because Westerners tend to rely on contracts, Asians on contacts.

Americans are also seen as more self-righteous, too eager to impose their own social and economic values on others. The Japanese, however, are more willing to deal with other countries as they are.

“The Japanese are also very self-righteous, but they’re more receptive to the idea that the outside world is totally different from their world. They spend a lot of time to learn about the outside world, to learn other languages,” said Jimmy Lai, a prominent Hong Kong businessman.

That willingness to deal with Asia on its own terms was reflected in a commentary by former Japanese Foreign Minister Saburo Okita last August. “Perhaps significantly, there has been very little criticism of the Tian An Men episode in Asia. I realize that democracy is the wave of the future. . . . But I would not demand that China measure up to Western ideals immediately,” he wrote.

One Korean official said that despite his nation’s gripes about Japan, most Koreans prefer to do business with the Japanese over Americans. A shared sense of race and culture gives them a comfort level most don’t genuinely feel with Caucasians, he said.

“We are the same skin color,” the official said of the Japanese.

Americans are impatient; the Japanese persevere.

“I think Americans are very ‘McDonaldized,’ ” said Lai, the Hong Kong founder of the Giordano clothing store chain. “If they’re hungry, they want to eat right away. Whatever they want to do, they want results right away. And they want the rest of the world to like McDonald’s.”

The Japanese are also more patient through the sometimes tortuous negotiations required in places such as China. “When we deal with the Japanese, they are always very eager, whether a final deal is struck or not,” said Liang Yaohao, an official of the Anshan Iron & Steel Co. “They come and talk with us many times. Even before a contract is signed, they welcome our technicians in Japan.”

And Japanese firms are viewed as more diligent and do far better homework. Much of it is supplied by the Japanese government, which operates one of the most effective commercial intelligence operations in the world.

“They have reams and reams of information about the business: Who is there, who is not there, who owns whom, what company is connected to which, what they’re facing, who are the major competitors,” Tjen said. “They have it all. It puts the Japanese business person at a real advantage.”

But admiration for Japan is twinged with both fear and envy by its Asian neighbors--and some vow to try to hold back the economic giant.

“I think China, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Southeast Asian countries will try to find a way to blockade Japan, rather than welcome Japan to become the leader,” said Ting of National Taiwan University. “Once everybody realizes that Japan is going to control East Asia, I don’t think people will like that.”

Contributing to this article were Times correspondents Sam Jameson in South Korea, David Holley in China and Taiwan, and Charles Wallace in Thailand. Also contributing were special correspondent Abbey Tan in Manila and research assistant Nick Driver in Beijing.