China Choking On Its Own Tainted Goods

Asia Times Online ^ | October 10, 2007 | By Wu Zhong, China Editor

[JACKRUSSELL]

(HONG KONG) - ...... China has generally taken more care with the quality of its exports, if for no other reason than to "save face" for the country in the world's eyes. Under Mao Zedong, China ensured that the goods it exported or donated to allied countries, were the best quality. In fact, during the brief, bloody Sino-Vietnamese border war of 1979, many People's Liberation Army soldiers were reportedly very upset after they found that Chinese-made weapons used by the Vietnamese against them were better than their own......

...... But this mentality also trickles down to the level where Chinese consumers are now literally eating the tainted fruits and ingesting the fake medicines of their own slipshod labors. No greater example can be found than during the traditional Chinese "golden week" holidays (Lunar Chinese New Year), May 1 Labor Day, and October 1 National Day - when fake foods and liquor abound on the Chinese market.

According to Chutian Metropolis Daily, authorities in Enshi city in the central province of Hebei launched a check on the local liquor and wine markets on the eve of the National Day holiday. They found half of the of brand-name Chinese baijiu (white liquor) such as Maotai or Wuliangye on sale in the city were fakes. More astonishing, 90% of the so-called imported brandy, whisky and wine served in entertainment venues and restaurants surveyed were counterfeit. And in Dongguan, a boom city in the southern province of Guangdong, authorities recently smashed a backyard beer brewry that was producing fake brand-name hooch using chemicals harmful to humans.

Some Chinese commentators have pointed out also that the problem isn't just greedy consumers and quick-buck artists - it's also often rooted in the collusion between government officials and entrepreneurs......

[Gritty]

[ponder life]

Ultimately it is Chinese acceptance of a counterfeiting culture that enables the practice to flourish and changing it could take generations.

Maybe a couple of generations. Global market forces will push its way into the Chinese economy. It slowly worked it's into Japan and then to Korea and Taiwan. I'm confident it will work it's way into China. It has to if China is to ever reach the level of producing products with cutting edge technology and quality. I'm confident they will.

[Clemenza]

Ping!

[Clemenza]

Mexico put in auto usage restrictions and emissions control 15 years ago. The problem, however, is not with the cars, but with the gas that is used for cooking down there by the average Mexican, to say nothing for the extensive use of charcoal.