media - American compies still desperate for a partner

Last year the highest administrative organs in China banned foreign companies from any alliance in the vast media landscape. But the eagerness of US media companies to get into trouble seems without limit, we read today in the International Herald Tribune. Focus of the attention is the Shanghai Media Group, one of the largest state-owned media conglomerates in the country.
With a memory that seems shorter than six months, executives listened to Li Ruigang, the official in charge.

"If you have 100 partners, then you can learn 100 different things from them," Li said in a recent meeting at his office.
He seems to be aiming for at least that many and, in the process, trying to transform China's government-controlled media from within. MTV Networks, VNU, CNBC, Universal Music Group, Sony and Discovery Communications are just some of the companies that are in business with Shanghai Media Group, or SMG.

Are there any psychologists who can explain this misplaced enthusiasm?