Actually lying is very much an Asian characteristic. It is also a tribal trait where. Your tribe or, in the case of Moslems, your religion is the entire legitimate world. Everything outside of your world is enemy and giving them true information is giving the enemy power over you. Within these societies the dynamic works at the level of the clan and the family also. There is no desire to work with other groups because you must not give those others power over you. Other groups are tolerated so long as it is necessary and displaced when possible.
Very interesting!
It is also a tribal trait where. Your tribe or, in the case of Moslems, your religion is the entire legitimate world. Good friend of mine is an engineer from Burma, a tribal man 3 generations out of the stone age. About 500 people speak his native language. "Walk five miles down the road, and nobody understands you anymore."