Think twice before biting into a chocolate to [sic] loose yourself in its taste – you might actually be chewing a wee bit more then you bargained for.
“It seems to be seriously contaminated during the manufacturing process since the larvae of Plodia Interpun were found,” says Professor Ahn Young-chul at Eulji University.
Reports suggest that worms were found in some chocolates made in Korea as well. But the news about the ‘China Chocolates’ adds to the already-damaged “Made in China” brand.
An array of tainted Chinese products, including toxic toys, toxic toothpaste, inflammable clothes, poisoned pet food and contaminated medicine were discovered across the globe in recent months causing importers and consumers alike to question the quality of goods coming from China.
#70 “since you obviously work for the Chinese government and/or have been brainwashed by them…”
LOL No, I am an American business man in China with a couple of export companies. I have been outside of the US long enough for the layers of bullshit that Americans are subjected to everyday can fall away.
I never said that trading with China is a good thing for the US or any country. What I did say is there is no shortage of foreign companies falling over themselves to get to China to either manufacture and export or to sell domestically.
Americans are so anal about themselves and the US, knowing everything about anything because they haven’t yet moved out of the WW2 era of thinking.
You make uninformed statements about ‘inadequate’ labour laws not knowing that China actually has more labour benefits for workers then the US. E.G. How much paid maternity leave does the US have? Oh…none.
The problems with labour are not with the Chinese government but with private businesses who operate outside of the law. The Chinese government freely admits the problems of administration and enforcement and is actively striving to eradicate corrupt officials and business people.
2000 corrupt government officials have recently been arrested and charged. This week the government announced it is enacting new programs to further aid people in rural areas.
So how is New Orleans coming along there good buddy? Its only been HOW LONG!!??
You seem incapable in understanding the abrupt changes that China was undergone in just 20 years…and the progress that has been done post Mao while the US has taken its own sweet time to reform anything. Should I mention how long it took for slaves to get their civil rights – 100 years and still the KKK is active!!
So as like many shoot from the hip Americans you seem to have no problems arguing about something in which you haven’t the fainted idea about BUT you are able to rationalise it so you can believe what you are saying.
Who invaded and started two wars on its own accord under proven false pretences and no results to date and is contemplating started a third?
The US has a long history of acquiring territory by force and untrustworthy means. Crack open your history book and have a little education of what the US has taken from the Native Americans, and Mexicans under the banner of Freedom and Liberty. Don’t forget the all those islands in the Pacific as well…
If you want to compare armies, North Korea’s standing army is almost as large as China’s!
To use your own words
The US “currently has more than enough soldiers and military hardware to provide an ample defense, so once again, why all the spending unless of course they have more than an ample defense in mind?”
W…T…F???
By not flushing billions of dollars down the toilet like the US is in Afghanistan and Iraq China can spend it all kinds of new shit, highways, bridges, hi-speed trains, subways… If you got off you fat ass and had a look here you would know this. Until then you don’t know DICK!
By the way, I was just like you before I actually spent some time living other countries. I found that the world does not need to conform to what the US thinks it is.
Cheers
Funny::: The USA has RECALLS and China does not have ???
They are poising us and they still have the chutzpa ( guts) to blame the USA Gov. for politics and The USA manufactures for not checking the goods.
#72 If you are Taiwanese and have a business in Shanghai you would get rather pissed off having your trip taking 3-4 times as long by going all the way to HK then turning around passing Taiwan to Shanghai.
#69 Korea has always been separate from China. In around 1236AD Genghis Khan invaded Korea and after some 30 years they both signed a peace treaty and Korea remained separate. In the late 1800’s Japan forced its influence onto Korea and finaly in 1910 annexed Korea all together.
It was Genghis Khan who was the Empire builder in China and he was not even Chinese – he Mongolian and an invader of China.
After WWII Korea went back to being Korea from Japan same as Taiwan.
Mao had other plans…
Cheers
Here is an interesting article about China
http://tinyurl.com/pnl9t
Cheers
#76 OH! Sorry! I got caught up in all this! I get it now! đ
Cheers
And here is the latest story out on the toy recall just hours ago
Business Week
http://tinyurl.com/38qh4k
“The two GeoTrax toys were made by Apex Manufacturing Company Ltd., one of Mattel’s contract vendors, which outsourced paint work to a subcontractor, Boyi Plastic Products Factory. Apex supplied Boyi with certified paint; however, the toys were made with uncertified paint.”
“one of Mattel’s contract vendors, which outsourced the molding and painting of one plastic piece. A subcontractor, Jingying Tampo Printing Processing Factory, used uncertified paint on the…”
And here is what I said months ago…
“All is fine if my paint I am selling to company A is what it I say it is but this can change either with my knowing or without. I must be vigilant with my purchasing officer as well as workers in the factory as they can all benefit from someone wanting to make a âdealâ. The good materials in the factory I use for my products might be sold to someone out the back door which is replaced by some inferior material with counterfeit labels, drums etc. For large companies in âdealsâ like this even the senior management like âwet their beakâ.
Business Week:
“Mattel vowed as recently as last month it would tighten its controls in China. About 65 percent of the company’s toys are made in there, and about 50 percent of Mattel’s production is in China at company-owned plants.”
You need to have eyes everywhere and my guess is the Mattel did not have any foreign staff monitoring production. I am sure that NOW they do!
Cheers
#68
>>#64 âPointing out that they happen to take quality less seriously
>>than other nationalities isnât âbashing,â itâs factual observation.â
I agree thats not China bashing. This is China bashing:
“Is there anything that comes out of that country that isnât shit. Comment by gquaglia”
“ya gotta love that Chinese quality control system!
Comment by AlanB ”
“We should have stopped trading with China a long time ago. Not simply because of the poor quality but also because of the fact they exploit people to do it
Comment by JMB.”
“Its a well known fact that China has been selling us shit for years.
Comment by Ian”
“They may have been pirated, but theyâre still Chinese.
Comment by Mister Mustard ”
So you see what I’m getting at now TIHZ_HO
TIHZ_HO, the only one that appears to not have an open mind about the issue is you.
âcurrently has more than enough soldiers and military hardware to provide an ample defense”
We both know I was talking about China. Unfortunately, and I do mean unfortunately the U.S. has been charged with policing the world and therefore needs to spend alot more on defense than any other country. I don’t like the fact that the U.S. does this, but then again who else could we trust with the task?
You can quote me for China bashing all you want to, the fact that they exploit their workers is not an opinion it is a fact. While in America it does occur, it is the exception rather than the rule. In China I wouldn’t go as far as saying it’s the rule but it’s not exactly rare either. If it takes stopping trading with not only China but other countries that exploit their workers to enact change then so be it. It is not about bashing it is about respecting human life, and if the people making the decisions only understand money then you have to make respecting human life an economic necessity.
This one is my favorite,
“By the way, I was just like you before I actually spent some time living other countries. I found that the world does not need to conform to what the US thinks it is”
This is ironic, you see I am an American but I live in Tokyo and I have been here for 18 years. My wife works as intermediate between manufacturers in both China and Japan, and tool companies around the world. She makes regular trips to China and I do get to here the stories. She deals with quality issues as part of her job. Customers who want quality pay more for tools manufactured outside of China, this is not an opinion it is a fact. Now my opinion may be skewed a little because the industrial trash China dumps in the ocean ends up on Japan’s shores. To believe blindly all the crap the U.S. government and news puts out is foolish, but your blind denial of all of the facts concerning China’s disrespect for human life makes you quite the fool as well.
#80 “the fact that they (China) exploit their workers is not an opinion it is a fact. While in America it does occur, it is the exception rather than the rule. In China I wouldnât go as far as saying itâs the rule but itâs not exactly rare either.”
I don’t want to get hung up on semantics but this is an important point. When you say “China exploits their workers” you should say “Chinese and some foreign owned businesses exploit their workers.”
When you state that China exploits their workers and itâs the norm this implies China has little or no labour laws when in fact China does have good labour laws. The problem is their enforcement which the Chinese government freely admits is a problem!
So please tell me â as you know all about the problems China has so finding the solution should be simple. Canât fix something until you know what is wrong – right? You live in Japan which puts you close to China and your wife does business with China and you hear all the stories.
So how to correct Chinaâs labour problem from your point of view being close to China ?
What is the best way to turn around the attitudes of 1.3 billion people who have been previously mind fucked by Mao all their lives.
What is the 12 step reform program and what’s its schedule?
Here again my perspective. My wife is Chinese and involved with manufacturing for about 15 years – I hear all the stories too. I managed Chinese factories for many years – the first in 1993 – and currently we have two manufacturing businesses. However I have seen real changes in workers conditions first hand – but I am blind.
You state: “your blind denial of all of the facts concerning Chinaâs disrespect for human life makes you quite the fool as well.”
I am not blind at all. What I know and obviously you do not is that Chinese have little regard for life and others. Why? Well Mao’s Cultural Revolution for one – this was the one of darkest times in China’s recent history. Mao’s Red Guard – the cultural police had the power of life and death over people if they could not quote from Mao’s little red book – or was even accused of saying something critical about Mao. People could not even trust family members for fear of being turned in to the Red Guard.
If that was not bad enough wait there is more! Chinese were taught that there life has no value other then to serve Mao so he as the great helmsman can make China great. Maoâs ‘Great Leap Forward’ to industrialize China caused the death of an estimated 25 million people who just staved to death! People resorted to eating their dead staved children. Through it all Mao drummed into the heads that these âsacrificesâ are expected of them for a great China and it was their duty and honour to be called upon by Mao even to die – from the moment they were born. This became a part of Chinese life to think less of life – its cheap and to think only about oneâs own well being so itâs perfectly ok to screw everyone else.
My father in law was one those who was imprisoned and tortured by Maoâs Red Guard â he was so brainwashed that if I were to say anything bad about Mao he gets extremely angry. He believes that Mao had to do what he had to do and if people had to die it is their duty and honour so China can be great. So tell me how to change his mind? What is the best way to do this because my wife and I donât have a clue of how to.
So, NO I am not the fool, thank you, as I know why Chinese have this disregard to life and others and I know that this terrible attitude IS slowly changing with Chinese growing up in a POST Mao China.
You must have a different take on why âChinaâ has this disrespect for life? You must know something I donât know â that is why you can say I am the fool. So what is it?
I would say the fools are the people who cannot you accept that to radically change how 1.3 billion people think of life, themselves and others from the total Mao mind fuck takes time. It cannot happen overnight.
But if you still believe that China should have done better tell my why the KKK and other âwhiteâ attitudes are still strong in America â like damn, how much time do you need to free the slaves already? SHIT! The US can take all the time it wants to effect any change of attitude to others – Blacks and minorities. Itâs ok for the US to take over 140 years to do something but if China can’t get its shit together on ALL LEVELS in 20 – well damn you all!
You think I am blind to worker exploitation. Do you know that many workers complain if they only work 40 hours a week? In our factory 5 hours north of Shanghai if we try to reduce the working hours we lose workers. They want to work 12 hours a day and 6 or 7 days a week – that means more money to them. The fact is we are breaking the law â too much overtime. Where the factory is located is in a growing industrial area and there is a distinct shortage of workers.
We pay the staff good wages so if they only work 8 hours they will want to work more for more money. Itâs hard for anyone who has not worked with Chinese workers to understand this. We have to closely watch how many hours the workers are working as they will always try to find reasons to work more hours. So you explain this to me.
I am not saying that in many rural areas there are not real exploitations but again this is not within the law. There are what amounts to slave labour in some rural areas with corrupt government officials and businesses profiting together. When these people are caught quite often if the scope of the corruption is high enough the first to be executed are the government officials as they are expected to follow the law. Recently an ex-mayor of Shanghai was executed for corruption.
Has your wife talked to these exploited workers? Have you or your wife ever worked in or managed any factories in China? Japan has many factories in China – are the workers exploited in those? I am sure your wife must have seen those Japanese factories in China.
Here is a story for you. One company my wife knows well had an industrial accident – a worker lost most of his arm in a press. There were little of no safety systems in place – normal. The company reluctantly paid this worker what amounted to only $1,200 after a lot of fighting and time. The owner of the factory was good friends with the local government officials (Guanxi) so nothing happened until it reached the news. The factory owner and government officials were fined. The business goes on.
That story is real tragedy and it is not an isolated case as there are many more stories like this everyday, usually in the more rural areas of China. In Shanghai and surrounding areas it would have been another story.
So what would you suggest China does to stop these stories from occurring? Again I say China was turned around on a dime from Mao to now and change filters slowly down from the larger cities. The important point to understand is there is reform and there is change. I see it happening so it is not government bullshit.
I do try to give my view NOT though blind eyes as you put it, or following some hidden agenda as a Chinese government stooge as I have been called but from the perspective of being the âman on the streetâ working closely with Chinese workers in factories.
Why I do bother? I had a shock when I returned to the US for 11 months after 22 years and found not only was the US I knew a distant memory, but I was so tired of hearing nonsense and shit about China and the world. So I was thinking â wait a minute, I was there, this didnât happen that way.
Then I am bombarded with the US government rhetoric about freedom and the war on terrorists yadda yadda yadda. And I am thinking why are the terrorists picking on the US and the UK? Ok any foreigner in Iraq is fair game but what about attacks against a country? I don’t hear anything about shit happening in Germany or France – or even China – what about Japan? WTF? So I think there must be another side to any story – don’t believe the popular story as it might just be a load of…POOP!
Cheers