It's not just a Chinese thing- I've seen Aussie companies do the same thing- was it PDY and FEL who had a similar situation? Actually, I've seen it a few times. Those ones had no premium was offered- in fact, less was offered than the share price, and it went on for months and months and months- a bit like the BRM/WNI situation.
The corporate world can be dog eat dog. And the dog eating dogs are of all nationalities.