mayoraasei (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
mayoraasei) wrote2007-07-17 04:25 pm
mayoraasei) wrote2007-07-17 04:25 pm
Entry tags:
beijing olympics
With little more than a year to go until the 2008 Olympics, the host country can only expect more and more international scrutiny on its various - and many - social problems.
As with most authoritarian states, China doesn't like to see its flaws pointed out, and expects the international community to also keep their lips zipped. For the last decade, much of the world has done just that, in order to bank in on China's so-called economic boom.
But it's likely that the 2008 Olympics will force the international community to examine China under a more critical lens. It is no longer good enough not care where the products come from as long as it's cheap. Now that the developed countries are sending their best athletes into the unknown, they are no longer content to let sleeping dogs lie.
Of course, one factor to the trade brawl is that neither China nor USA want to show they have a bigger export control problem than the other, leading to increasing numbers of import bans that's starting to look rather juvenile.
Or it would look that way if USA was the only country rearing its head. High numbers of fatalities occurred in Panama as a result of a Chinese factory replacing medical grade glycerine with industrial diethylene glycol; 24 brands of toothpaste containing DEG were banned by Canada (23 by USA, 2 recalled by Australia); thousands of pets were reportedly killed by pet food contaminated with melamine in USA; large numbers of unsafe electrical appliances and hardware were recalled by the Australian ACCC; toys containing lead-based paint recalled by most western countries; and Japan has now complained of unacceptably high levels of banned pesticides and antibiotics in tea leaves, peanuts and eel. Reportedly, a Hokkaido man cooking with a Chinese wok noticed silvery liquid seeping out from the edge of the wok, which was found to be a liquefied mixture of molten lead and cadmium, the stuff you might find in a battery =/ It's also recently been reported in Japan that some Beijing restaurants mix 60% minced cardboard in 40% pork to make pork buns.
In spite of all these claims, Beijing insists that 99% of Chinese exports are safe, and just a few bad apples are giving the rest a bad name. Meanwhile, Wall Street Journal points out in USA, "China has accounted for 60% of all consumer-product recalls this year", and Sydney Morning Herald likewise found that approximately half of recalled products, where the companies are willing to divulge, are from China.
While some foreign reporters are willing to give China concession, others are quick to point out that the problem lies deeper than executing the Food and Drugs Administration chief, an act that looks by day more like a desperate grab for a scapegoat, or perhaps more poetically, desperately sacrificing the sacrificial lamb.
Because some people seem displeased that I draw my sources from the Epochtimes, today I shall bring to you the commentaries provided by journalists of the esteemed Wall Street Journal =P
Both Are Chinese Export Products Unsafe? and Jeremy Haft's The China Syndrome point out that the inherent problem lies in the structure of Chinese industries, consisting of a long chain of middlemen, fractured organisation, with no practical quality control.
This suggests that the problem starts at the base of the pyramid, where any quality material (if such exists) can get mixed with substandard material, and however perfected the final processing, the result will be inevitably substandard because of the lack of standardisation. Counterfeit certification are often a problem, as Australia has discovered with electric products.
Call me biased, but personally I think Emily Parker's article 'Made in China' has pinned the crux of the problem:
While some will say that this same kind of unethical behavior was rampant in the U.S. roughly a century ago, there are elements here that are particular to China. One commonly heard theory is that the Chinese have nothing to believe in: The communists destroyed traditional values and beliefs, leaving nothing sustainable in their place. Now that many Chinese have lost faith in communist ideology, getting rich has, in a sense, become the national religion.
The chaos of communist rule over the past decades -- from famines to purges to neighbors informing on one another -- has also likely contributed to the blurring of moral distinctions. "The Cultural Revolution created an enormous dent in morality. Society [was] in confusion for a long time. Couple that with the madness of trying to get rich -- you put these things together and you end up getting contaminated toothpaste and pet food," says Peter Humphrey, longtime China hand and founder of risk-management consultancy ChinaWhys.
The same article reminds westerners that this "new" scare is nothing new to the native Chinese (and indeed isn't), who have been used to trying to navigate the precarious path of staying healthy amongst a sea of substandard products.
Exported items will only be the first topic to jump under international scrutiny before the Beijing Olympics. Many other issues, not unrelated to substandard food and products ("counterfeit" bottled water consisting of tap water, for one thing...Chinese tap-water is "non-potable"), as well as human rights abuses and unhealthy levels of pollution will only experience increasing critical debate, however fervently Beijing might try to sweep it under the carpet.
As with most authoritarian states, China doesn't like to see its flaws pointed out, and expects the international community to also keep their lips zipped. For the last decade, much of the world has done just that, in order to bank in on China's so-called economic boom.
But it's likely that the 2008 Olympics will force the international community to examine China under a more critical lens. It is no longer good enough not care where the products come from as long as it's cheap. Now that the developed countries are sending their best athletes into the unknown, they are no longer content to let sleeping dogs lie.
Of course, one factor to the trade brawl is that neither China nor USA want to show they have a bigger export control problem than the other, leading to increasing numbers of import bans that's starting to look rather juvenile.
Or it would look that way if USA was the only country rearing its head. High numbers of fatalities occurred in Panama as a result of a Chinese factory replacing medical grade glycerine with industrial diethylene glycol; 24 brands of toothpaste containing DEG were banned by Canada (23 by USA, 2 recalled by Australia); thousands of pets were reportedly killed by pet food contaminated with melamine in USA; large numbers of unsafe electrical appliances and hardware were recalled by the Australian ACCC; toys containing lead-based paint recalled by most western countries; and Japan has now complained of unacceptably high levels of banned pesticides and antibiotics in tea leaves, peanuts and eel. Reportedly, a Hokkaido man cooking with a Chinese wok noticed silvery liquid seeping out from the edge of the wok, which was found to be a liquefied mixture of molten lead and cadmium, the stuff you might find in a battery =/ It's also recently been reported in Japan that some Beijing restaurants mix 60% minced cardboard in 40% pork to make pork buns.
In spite of all these claims, Beijing insists that 99% of Chinese exports are safe, and just a few bad apples are giving the rest a bad name. Meanwhile, Wall Street Journal points out in USA, "China has accounted for 60% of all consumer-product recalls this year", and Sydney Morning Herald likewise found that approximately half of recalled products, where the companies are willing to divulge, are from China.
While some foreign reporters are willing to give China concession, others are quick to point out that the problem lies deeper than executing the Food and Drugs Administration chief, an act that looks by day more like a desperate grab for a scapegoat, or perhaps more poetically, desperately sacrificing the sacrificial lamb.
Because some people seem displeased that I draw my sources from the Epochtimes, today I shall bring to you the commentaries provided by journalists of the esteemed Wall Street Journal =P
Both Are Chinese Export Products Unsafe? and Jeremy Haft's The China Syndrome point out that the inherent problem lies in the structure of Chinese industries, consisting of a long chain of middlemen, fractured organisation, with no practical quality control.
This suggests that the problem starts at the base of the pyramid, where any quality material (if such exists) can get mixed with substandard material, and however perfected the final processing, the result will be inevitably substandard because of the lack of standardisation. Counterfeit certification are often a problem, as Australia has discovered with electric products.
Call me biased, but personally I think Emily Parker's article 'Made in China' has pinned the crux of the problem:
While some will say that this same kind of unethical behavior was rampant in the U.S. roughly a century ago, there are elements here that are particular to China. One commonly heard theory is that the Chinese have nothing to believe in: The communists destroyed traditional values and beliefs, leaving nothing sustainable in their place. Now that many Chinese have lost faith in communist ideology, getting rich has, in a sense, become the national religion.
The chaos of communist rule over the past decades -- from famines to purges to neighbors informing on one another -- has also likely contributed to the blurring of moral distinctions. "The Cultural Revolution created an enormous dent in morality. Society [was] in confusion for a long time. Couple that with the madness of trying to get rich -- you put these things together and you end up getting contaminated toothpaste and pet food," says Peter Humphrey, longtime China hand and founder of risk-management consultancy ChinaWhys.
The same article reminds westerners that this "new" scare is nothing new to the native Chinese (and indeed isn't), who have been used to trying to navigate the precarious path of staying healthy amongst a sea of substandard products.
Exported items will only be the first topic to jump under international scrutiny before the Beijing Olympics. Many other issues, not unrelated to substandard food and products ("counterfeit" bottled water consisting of tap water, for one thing...Chinese tap-water is "non-potable"), as well as human rights abuses and unhealthy levels of pollution will only experience increasing critical debate, however fervently Beijing might try to sweep it under the carpet.
no subject
Uh...on the other hand, that would explain quite a bit.
Man, and I'm supposed to go to China in October. Should I be nervous?
no subject
Well, apart from that, there's really nothing much you can do. Stay away from street eateries, and if you can, try to get a local guide to take you eating, since they'd probably know more about avoiding bad places.
Why are you going to China? A conference?
no subject
no subject
Adjust nerdy glasses, Check
Clears throat, Check
Ok like all well-educated lecturers I will be explaining my thoughts in random points that normal uni students would never be able to follow and understand.
Ok I know for one thing China is trying to drive away certain foreign companies from China once they have invested heavily in technology and infrastructure. For example, P & G and Canola based products received public scrutiny over allegedly high levels of toxins in their products. Those claims were deemed false upon independent examination, not that those message were conveyed to the Chinese public. In a recent trip back to China my relatives were indeed complaining about those products to me, as Chinese are extremely health-conscious. That said it is possible that other countries would use the same tactic to prevent cheap Chinese goods from competing with their own products. After all it is much easier to believe that Chinese goods are of lesser quality then otherwise well-known international brands. However that is increasingly not always the case. Having first hand experience on importing goods from China, more often then not Chinese goods are of better quality (in terms of durability) then the more well-known brands. (Only talking about electronics in this case, have no experience with food products.)
Why is that the case? Chinese exporters face sooooooooooooo much competition that the only way to compete is to export goods that function at the cheapest price available. On the otherhand, foreign companies that set up most of their factories in Asian countries ANYWAY, produce machinery that is designed to fail after a given time. (how else are they gonna make money, spare parts duh.)
You highlighted both the structure of Chinese industries and the money-seeking mentality of individuals as a problem. But think about this, for every level, there are middlemen that try to squeeze out as much as they can from each other, either by demanding more quality, or a cheaper price. Those middlemen in essence serve as a form of quality management as every step of the product is being put through a process of bargaining and examination. Admittedly out of quality and price most would demand for a cheaper price, however as stated above, more likely then not products must at least satisfy the functionality side of criterias before being handed to the next level.
Above argument was based on the rationale that businessmen seek repeat business and there are no bad cookies, however there are always middlemen that runs off with commision, or takes a chunk in the process somewhere and never to be seen again in the same state. those are the people that gives Chinese goods all the bad rep. So in a way I agree with your latter comments about Chinese having nothing to turn to but money, but the means to achieve that end is not always at a loss of buyers. The core of the problem lies in lack of enforced regulations as well as corruption, those provide the impression that people can get away, and that encourages them to practice unscrupulously. (From a recent economist report corruption appeared to be improving on world standards, I think its around the worse part of mid-ranged now iirc.)
no subject
Personally I've had better experiences with Japanese electrical products than Chinese. Even Sony, who outsources a lot of their stuff to Chinese producers still fares better than the local Aiwa. But electrical rice cookers in particular...though we still haven't gotten a Japanese one because my dad's such a tight-ass, the Chinese ones really turn me off because the aluminium plating peels off with each successive cooking. (Short health lesson: while aluminium isn't known as a heavy metal like lead is, the body does not use it at all, which means it's unnecessary, and it means we don't know what its long term effect is. The problem is a lot of our utensils are either now aluminium alloy or aluminium plated.)
I've concentrated mostly on food products because firstly that's where most problems are found, and secondly it causes the highest threat to consumers. While competition may be fierce, in food what sells best and not what is of the best quality is often the product exported. Several years back there was a huge health scare (that was never actually mentioned in the western world because they don't eat it) from rice vermicelli because some smart-ass thought it smart to soak it in acid to make it more "slippery".
Other industrial chemicals including various other acids, alkalis and in particular, bleach, often pop up in the processing of goods to make things either "look" or "taste" more appealing. There are many shortcuts available to minimise production time and cost, and not all of these are normally detected (because they might not be part of standard tests), but may well be a health risk. The worst contaminants are the cancer-causing components, which don't even show its effects until 20 odd years later, and you have no idea how/why you got it.
The other thing that turns me off is that quite a significant proportion of exported products are outsourced to labour camps, which brings in the entire human rights issue again, as well as health. There are labour camps that make bamboo items, such as toothpicks and disposable chopsticks, and they're made by prisoners who are living in very unhygienic conditions, and who are often quite ill. There was an MP or a Christian fellow who made a speech a few years back, saying he knew a political prisoner who was forced to put the plastic caps on Christmas lights - 5000 caps quota per day, or it was no food and no sleep.
Obviously these products get mixed with those products that are made in legit factories who employ adult people and pay them well (I'm not even go into child labour and underpaying, as I'm sure you've heard of them), but I hate the feeling of picking up something really cheap and wondering who was whipped or imprisoned to get it made.
Re PS: Oh, by street eateries I kinda meant those carts. I used to love eating the 蔥油餅 from those XD
no subject