Personally the only times when I got back-stabbed at work were by Canadians, but I don't go around making conclusion about Canadian culture being backstabby.
If 1 in 10 Chinese you met are manipulators, that means 9 out of 10 are NOT honest/manipulative, how can you then go conclude "in Chinese culture 'any means necessary' tactics are considered smart and fair game as long as they work."?
I move out of china for college in japan and I feel I can view things without getting too emotional.
In practice when you are dealing with people from mainland they are ruthless about business and do not share/acknowledge the rules people follow in westerner and other Asian countries(most of they are not aware of it of course). We hear ton of story about Chinese company stealing IP.
China have this absence of culture in the last several decades that leave its people no core moral to follow. Whenever a business leader are portrayed in mass media, it is always about how well they are dominating the market, how fast they killed the competitors. While I talk to my Chinese relatives about business, all they care is profit.
Same as you, I moved to Canada for college, and for a while detached myself from "those lowly Chinese" still stuck in China. But eventually it occurred to me, people also judge me with those stereotypes. Looking at myself and other Chinese people I crossed path with, I feel most of us live with integrity and a high morale compass, and having those stereotypes applied to us are incredibly unfair and dangerous.
Holocaust did not stop after all the bad Jews were persecuted.
If 1 in 10 Chinese you met are manipulators, that means 9 out of 10 are NOT honest/manipulative, how can you then go conclude "in Chinese culture 'any means necessary' tactics are considered smart and fair game as long as they work."?