Personal View

* Name: Carole Southerland Wade

* Position: Director, international corporate meetings

* Company: China Trade Development Corp.

While planning a corporate board meeting in Taipei, Taiwan, some years ago, Wade admired a beautiful, antique Chinese screen owned by a wealthy Taiwanese transportation executive. Although Wade’s schedule included a stopover in Moscow on her way home, the executive insisted she take the screen, which weighed more than 200 pounds and measured 14 feet high and 12 feet long. Rejecting the gift would have offended him.

“As he was scheduled to be a guest in my office two weeks later, he insisted that he would position the screen in its correct place upon his arrival,” Wade said. “Accompanied to the Taipei airport by a museum curator, the screen and I began our adventure home.” In the former Soviet Union, Moscow’s Sheremetyevo Airport was willing to store the screen temporarily, but not so willing to let it go. “For several days I tried to convince the customs office that the screen was cheh-mah-DAH-nih tahm mah-YEE! (Mine!)”

Their answer: “Nyet!”

After she was finally able to persuade Russian officials to release the screen, Wade flew home with the artwork. But she still had to take it through U.S. customs, and ended up paying several thousand dollars in duties and freight charges.

Back in Wade’s office, a small reference library was removed to make room for the screen. The Taiwanese executive was quite pleased with its new home, Wade said.

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