可口可乐中国发展史（节选）

    第1部分：重返中国

    马克•彭德格拉斯特【作家，著有《可口可乐帝国》（For God, Country & Coca-Cola）一书】：可口可乐是西方资本主义和消费主义的典型代表，遭到中国共产党的坚决反对。

    Lub Bun Chong【作家，著有《管理中国合伙人》（Managing a Chinese Partner）一书】：中国人仇视所有西方事物。这时候，可口可乐来到中国说：“伙计们，我们想在中国卖可乐。”

    鲁大卫（可口可乐大中华区执行副总裁兼董事长）：我父亲曾在老布什当政期间担任外交官，在中美建交之前，美国在北京设有一处联络办公室。我于1976年在中国学校学习，可能是第一个或第一批就读中国公立中学的美国学生。当时学生们接受的都是文化大革命式的教育。我曾在一个公社劳动过一个月。我还在一家工厂工作过。我们现在很难想象当时的中国是如何封闭——就像今天的朝鲜一样。

    李励生（可口可乐中国首任总裁）：1977年夏天，我接到一个电话，说可口可乐董事长J•保罗•奥斯丁想要见我。我从未见过奥斯丁——当时，我只是可口可乐实验室中一名普通的化学家，刚接受了一项新任务，前往可口可乐远东分公司位于香港的总部。奥斯丁说道：“我希望你能作为公司的先锋，观察一下中国今年的形势。”可口可乐未能打入前苏联市场，这令他非常沮丧。他希望在退休之前，能够完成一件有意义的事情。

    伊恩•威尔逊（原可口可乐公司副董事长）：我们必须对俄国人进行反击。保罗说，如果不能进入（中国市场），那你就自求多福吧。（1）

    李：我开始与中国粮油食品进出品公司（China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation）进行接触。中国粮油食品进出口公司是中粮集团(COFCO，一家中国国有进出口公司)的前身。我在六七个月内，向多个部门发去了电报，结果却如石沉大海。1978年12月，我突然收到了一封回电，一共只有两句话：“我们知道贵公司可以提供的产品。我们欢迎贵方来北京洽谈。”

    威尔森：迪克•霍尔布鲁克（卡特总统任职期间，担任主管东亚与太平洋事务的助理国务卿）正在为两国关系正常化而努力。他说道：“天哪，如果你们能在我们之前签署协议，一定要让我知道。”

    李：当时北京非常寒冷。我专门定做了一件保存至今的灰色羊绒大衣。中粮方面有三人出席了会议。我说：“我知道中国正在执行对外开放政策——中国将向全世界的游客敞开怀抱。而我们相信，我们的产品将被大多数游客所喜爱。”当然，众所周知，我们的最终目标不仅是向游客出售可乐。我们在1978年12月13日签署了协议。

    威尔森：卡特总统要求我们在他宣布两国外交关系正常化之前，不要公布与中国合作的消息。12月15日，星期五，下午3点，卡特用特有的方式宣布与中国建立外交关系。然而，这则消息不幸沉入了周末媒体黑洞。 我们在周一上午（即12月18日）召开了新闻发布会。结果，发布会成了各主要国家电视新闻的头条新闻，并登上了全世界每一家报纸的头版。这在当时引起了轰动。

    Part I: Getting Back In

    Mark Pendergrast (author, For God, Country & Coca-Cola): Coca-Cola was an archetypal symbol of Western capitalism and consumerism, which the Chinese Communists presumably were vehemently opposed to.

    Lub Bun Chong (author, Managing a Chinese Partner): The Chinese hated all things Western. And then Coke comes in and says, "Guys, we want to sell Coke."

    David Brooks (executive vice president and chairman, Coca-Cola Greater China): My father was a diplomat who worked for George H.W. Bush when they had a liaison’s office in Beijing, in the early days before diplomatic relations. I was probably the first or one of the first American students to go to Chinese public middle school in 1976. It was that era of Cultural Revolution-based education. I went to a commune to work in fields for a month. I worked in a factory. It’s hard to conceive today how closed off China really was—it was like North Korea today.

    Peter Lee (first president of Coca-Cola China): In the summer of 1977, I got a call that Coca Cola’s chairman J. Paul Austin wanted to see me. I had never met Austin—I was a little Coke chemist in the laboratory and I had accepted a new assignment to travel to Coca-Cola Far East’s base in Hong Kong. Austin said, "I want you to be an eye for the company and see what China is going through this year." He was very frustrated because Coke did not make it in the Soviet Union. He hoped he could do something significant before he retired.

    Ian Wilson (former Coca-Cola vice chairman): We had to counter Russia. Paul said, God help you if you don’t get in [China.] (1)

    Lee: I began to develop some contact with the China National Cereals, Oils and Foodstuffs Corporation, or what today we call COFCO [One of China’s state-owned import-export companies —Ed.] I sent many telexes to different departments over six or seven months. I never received a response. Then suddenly, in December 1978, I received a response. It said, "We understand what your company could offer. We welcome you to come to Beijing for negotiations." That’s all.

    Wilson: Dick Holbrook [Assistant U.S. Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs under President Carter] was working on normalization. He said, "My God, if you sign before we do, let me know."

    Lee: It was very cold in Beijing. I made special overcoat just for the purpose, a grey cashmere overcoat. I still have it. In the meeting, there were three people from COFCO. I said, "I understand China now has an open-door policy—it’s open to tourists from all over world. We have a product we believe most tourists would love." Our eventual goal, I’m sure everyone knew, wasn’t just selling to the tourist population. We signed the agreement on December the 13th, 1978.

    Wilson: We got a request from Carter not to announce until he had made an announcement [about normalized diplomatic relations]. In typical Carter fashion, around the fifteenth of December, he announced relations with China at 3 p.m. on a Friday. It went into a weekend media black hole. We called a press conference Monday morning [December 18]. It made the first minute of TV news in every major country, the front page of every newspaper in world. It was an enormous story.