A Chinese vendor smokes beside a box of shrimp
Posted on 09/01/2007 7:15:54 PM PDT by JACKRUSSELL
The piles of pills scattered across the desk of Wang Hai, China's leading consumer rights champion, look like painkillers and aspirin and come with convincing packaging.
But appearances can be deceptive in China. "They're all fake. They don't contain anything dangerous, but they're all completely useless and just designed to rip off the consumer," said Mr Wang.
There have long been cases of such phoney pills being exported to Africa. But the most recent spate of product and food quality scandals have left the "Made in China" label in tatters around the world.
Since March, exports ranging from contaminated pet food to toothpaste containing an industrial solvent and toys coated in lead paint have been recalled from Britain, America, Australia and Japan.
Under intense pressure to salvage the country's reputation, the government was forced to concede last week that China has "deep-rooted" problems with food and product quality and safety. In response it launched a four-month-long "special war" against shoddy and dangerous products, aimed particularly at the agricultural, pharmaceutical, food and toy sectors.
Mr Wang, a stocky 34-year-old who has made it his mission to stand up for China's consumers since 1995, believes they have grown accustomed to the sometimes shocking quality of domestic products.
"You have to remember that the quality of goods for export is much better than goods made for local consumption," said Mr Wang in the Beijing office where he runs China's most popular consumer complaints hotline.
That is especially true for China's toy industry, which produces 80 per cent of the world's toys. A government report in May revealed that one toy in five made for the domestic market was unsafe. At least 10,000 children a year are injured by defective or dangerous toys.
But it is not just toys that threaten the public's safety. Last month, officials in Beijing raided a factory that was recycling up to 100,000 pairs of bamboo chopsticks a day - none of them disinfected.
Until now though, protecting consumers has been a low priority for the authorities. China's law on consumer protection and rights has not been updated since it was passed in 1993 and there is no culture of consumer complaints.
"Chinese consumers generally don't complain about sub-standard products, unlike their peers in the West," said Wu Gaohan, the deputy secretary-general of China's Consumer Association.
"Very few people go to court because it's so costly," said Mr Wang.
Instead it's been left to the media and a few brave whistleblowers to expose safety and quality scandals. But people who speak out face the prospect of harassment or being gagged by the government.
Zhou Qing published an exposé of China's poor food quality, What Kind of God, earlier this year.
Mr Zhou's book details an appalling catalogue of abuses: pigs pumped full of steroids, fish farms that use contraceptives as feed, soy sauce made from fermented human hair and pesticide-tainted vegetables all feature in the book, which he says has been suppressed by the authorities.
He believes China's food safety problem is the result of corruption. "The only way food safety is going to be improved is by getting rid of the corrupt officials," he said.
Mr Wang cites collusion between local officials and manufacturers as one of the main reasons why product quality is so poor.
"Some of the companies are protected by local officials, which makes it difficult to take action against them," he said.
Nor is it always bribery that makes officials turn a blind eye. Promotion prospects often depend on the economic performance of the regions they run, and some welcome factories that make fake or poor quality goods, so long as they provide jobs and pay taxes.
Many believe the government's priority should be improving the quality of goods made for the local market rather than focusing on exports.
"If domestic consumers are given more protection and offered rewards for alerting the authorities to dubious suppliers, the situation will be much easier to monitor," Mr Wu said.
Despite the scandals, China's trade continues to grow, with the official export tally totalling £271 billion in the first half of 2007, 28 per cent up on last year.
in other words, free trade with China may end up killing your elderly parents.
ping
On second thought, I will have a cheese pizza, instead of the Kung-Pao chicken....
Failure stacked upon failure, scandall upon scandal, but don’t expect these Chinese product stories to gain much traction unless the Drive-Bys and other Liberals can find a way to hang them on Bush.
Of course, it is well beyond the officials. They are just bribed to get the stuff out of the country. China has a long history of producing fake pills and packaging then to look just like the real stuff. They sell these pills in China and other countries "under the table" and cheap, thus bringing the selling merchant into the criminal conspiracy. The pills are found to be fake, the pharmacy and its employees disappear. Who can the police (also likely corrupt) chase? Ah well, everyone goes back the business just like before the bust.
I have seen this sort of thing for years. You have to be very careful about where you get your medications outside USA, Japan and Singapore in the Pacific Rim.
save
Even the Krusty Brand Seal of Approval?
You can't fix China, or Mexico for that matter or Iraq, without changing the culture. It's all about culture.
The Chicoms have been holding their noses to allow its homegrown form of capitalism to thrive and fill the coffers of its war chest. Soon, they will need to breathe in the fresh air of Red bloodletting and open warfare once again. I hope we are prepared for that day.
Pretty colors.
Their answer is similar to the concept of the ‘war on drugs’ often used here in USA. They learned well, that people can be fooled with this meaningless fraise. No real change is expected. Unfortunately, some dissidents, or not so loyal communist party members will be falsely accused and jailed. It is on of the usual way how communist regimes resolve problems.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.