China to USA - It's Your Fault!

I expect that by now a lot of people have heard about the massive recall that Mattel Inc. put into place upon discovering that Chinese-manufactured toys they were selling under their brand were covered in toxic lead paint. It's been known for years that lead poisoning causes irreversible brain and nerve damage and that young children are particularly susceptible. This is the latest in a string of marketing and publicity disasters for the Communist Chinese, who just don't seem to "get" why people are upset (to put it mildly)! The latest example of this profound ignorance of how rational people react to such things as toxic toys (poison toothpaste, tainted shrimp, etc.) is exemplified in this story reported in this morning's Milwaukee Journal/Sentinel (Business Section, page 6D): China defends quality of workmanship Officials blame American designs By Audra Ang Associated Press Faulty American designs and conflicting global standards for safety are at the root of the mass recalls of Chinese-made toys by Mattel Inc., a top quality official said Monday. Defending the overall quality of Chinese workmanship, Li Changjiang, director of the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine, said recent export problems stemmed from "different standards that China and the United States apply to different products." "That would lead to difficulty in defining whether a product is problematic," Li added at a news conference without elaborating. [Well - duh! Of course there are different standards, but if you want to export your products to this country, you should KNOW what those standards are - and follow them. No doubt a good, dues-paying Communist, this is obviously a person who either doesn't know squat about quality control or, more likely, has gotten rich accepting bribes to turn his head the other way. Personally, I sure hope your head is on the chopping block next, buddy, and may your children all suffer from lead poisoning]. His comments were the latest in China's effort to overcome safety woes and to show it is a trustworthy manufacturer. [Yeah, right.] But continuing discoveries of high levels of chemicals and toxins in Chinese goods - from toothpaste to juice - are making that an uphill task. [Gee, ya think?] This month, Mattel, the world's largest toymaker, recalled almost 19 million Chinese-made dolls, cars and action figures worldwide because they were contaminated with lead paint or contained powerful magnets that could damage a child's organs if swallowed. Li conceded Chinese producers also have responsibility for making problematic toys. But he asked, "What kind of responsibility should the U.S. importers and U.S. designers take in this respect?" [Oh, this is classic - blame the victim! It's all OUR fault because we expected the Chinese manufacturers and suppliers to follow American specifications and use safe products - such as no lead-based paint, no lead-based metals used for construction, no easily detachable parts that children can swallow, etc. etc. - when everyone knows (or should know) that the Chinese don't read directions, they don't care about killing off their own people with tainted products so why should they care about killing Americans with those same products, and they certainly know nothing about honoring the terms of contracts or even begin to appreciate the concept of what "rule of law" means.] {End item} Well, what can we expect, doing business with such a culture?