Corruption is the norm in China. Pointing out Groupon's problems doesn't change that fact.
Business is clearly done differently in china, and there is a lot of protectionism, but that is not unique to China, I am curious why it is called out so much?
I think you have to live here to understand the level of fear around corruption and the lengths to which the government is going in order to stamp it out (not necessarily successfully). This is a country where an executive can get the death sentence for tainted food products. It's happened as recently as this past summer.
> I think you have to live here to understand the level of fear around corruption
I'm quite familiar with the attitudes within china in relation to corruption, and have had friends who have been arrested and "disappeared" for corruption.
I'm pretty sure this is an answer to your earlier question. Humans are corruptible, and thus all countries and governments contain corruption. But the governments that deal with their problems with fiat and secret police are just throwing gasoline on the fire -- i.e., creating an environment of mistrust and fear which only breeds further corruption.
But in general, people also tend to more eagerly report problems in rival groups than in their own. So I think China gets called out more on a primarily US bulletin board just because of the rival relationship that exists. I'd expect the same in reverse on a Chinese bbs.