2009+World+History+Final+Project+D+Shawn

=What Effect Does the "Made in China" Have on the World? =

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The video you just watched was a news story from a couple of years ago. However, this problem is still present in the modern world. In fact, a common stereotype about Chinese products that has existed from then is that they are cheap and that their quality is below what is acceptable. Bloggers and news reporters from all around the world still write about how Chinese products could become international problems, but the list of Chinese troubles keeps growing. Take a look at this example of a Chinese fast-food brand that was almost sued for copyright infringement:
 * Introduction **

[[image:%C7%C7%C0%DA%C7%EA_kazuma85.jpg width="418" height="234"]]
[Picture: Today let’s go to eat at Pizza... Huh?] ([|kazuma85])

From such cheap imitations of famous brands to “killer pet foods, tainted toothpaste [and] tires lacking an essential safety component,” ([|David J. Lynch, USA Today]) the “Made in China” makes people shake in fear. Why is this happening? And how should we react to such outrage? - These are the questions to be answered on this page, so feel free to explore the various views on the "Made in China" controversy:

**What are the symptoms?** News stories concerning recalls made on low-quality Chinese goods are extremely commonplace today. In September 2007, Canada was forced to recall thousands of pencils because they were shown to have dangerous levels of lead coating, Bloomberg reports, and this event “came amid a series of Chinese product recalls worldwide, including tainted dog food, toothpaste, crayon and paint box sets, blankets […] and over 20 million Mattel Inc. toys.” ([|Ting Ting Ng, Bloomberg])

[Picture: Lead-painted toys affect the entire world] ([|Mike Luckovich] )

More recently, in October 2008, [|Chung-Ang-Il-Bo] (one of the two largest Korean news agencies) reported that a police use of tear bombs manufactured in China killed three people and injured 400, a jaw-dropping number, considering that tear bombs are not meant to hurt people. There are countless other instances of people getting hurt by such products and to make things worse, even items sold within China are becoming international problems because of copyright problems.

It’s evident that such problems noticeably impact the global economy: the spread of poisonous Chinese products keeps the more sensible consumers not only from buying only Chinese goods, but also from purchasing the supposedly safe ones made in their own country. Such a happening damaged the sales of certain companies so much that some went as far as sticking “China-Free” labels on their products, reports [|Bob Tourtellotte], of the English news agency Reuters.

[Picture: They are not MSG-free. They are free MSG.] ([|John Darkow])

There are hundreads of cartoons like these that express the fear people had about Chinese imports. It's not a surprise to find out that companies resorted to "China-Free" stickers to raise their sales. [|James Collman], the author of the best-seller //Naturally Dangerous// and professor of Chemistry at Stanford University, states in his book that bird-flu, which caused quite a fuss a few years ago, was also a symptom of the made-in-China fenomenon. These viruses, which he labels as the ones that "can be particularly virulent," are a result of unsuitable poultry breeding conditions, and unfortunately, they reach the dining tables of many people around the world, as depicted in the above cartoon.

**What caused this to happen?**

According to the Korean online news [|Hangyeoreh], there are a few reasons to why this happens. First of all, China has a massive population, a large portion of which is the laboring class. This makes their labor costs among the lowest in the world, which in turn makes many companies around the world choose to import Chinese goods (sometimes secretly) because of their incredibly cheap prices, even while being aware of the dangers these products pose to the consumers. Second, the Chinese government is unable to control the massive number of industries producing these goods on its own. Apparently, the previously suppressive government is now asking its people to report incidences of bad food quality, but it is still not enough to keep low-quality goods from being produced. Lastly, the companies importing the Chinese goods often demand the largest quantity possible with the minimum expenditure, which forces the manufacturers in China to ignore the quality of their products. Also, [|Doctor Fan Ying], a Senior Lecturer at Brunel University, London, states in her report titled //The Globalisation of Chinese Brands// that “most brands in China seem to have short life cycles,” and observes that the survival rate of businesses over five years is only 10%. A lack of any lasting brands contributes to the low price of China's products, which are often shameless copies of other brands, such as "Dolce&Banana" and "Pizza Huh."

[Picture: I'm not entirely sure how Gabbana became Banana.] ([|kazuma85])

**How should we react?**

On one side, we have the issue of the cheap brand copies. On the other, we have the problem of unsanitary or below-standard products. These two cases need to be addressed separately, because one is not a serious threat and can be solved easily: Copying might lead to advancement. China lacks a law that protects intellectual property, so as soon as a company like Sony or Microsoft releases a new technology, one can expect to find an imitation being produced in China. However bad might this sound, though, some of the most developed and competitive countries today have used the same methods to “learn” the techniques they did not possess. Japan, for example, began at first just by emulating the car manufacturing methods used in Germany and the US, but soon it started to develop its own ways of creating cars. In a similar way, China might be able to gain something from the constant infringement of copyright laws.

[Picture: the Chinese PSP... it certainly looks less heavy?] ([|gbajjang])

Exporting poisoned food and utensils is a different story, and is in fact much more difficult to come up with a single solution. One thing that could be done, however, would be to start labeling the origin of the ingredients in our food. In Korean products, one can often find the origin marked as “Foreign,” without any reference to a specific country. Often, this occurs because the place they were imported from was China, and it would have been disadvantageous to state the truth. However, consumers have the right to know where their food or tools come from, so that they can be ensured safe products. It is impossible to completely remove China from one’s house – too much is made there. Yet, it would be best to be careful and reduce the risks of harmful consumption to a minimum.

[Picture: Maybe we're being too paranoic?] ([|Cam Cardow])

Cardow, Cam. "Diabolical Plot." Cartoon. Cagle Cartoons. 15 Aug. 2007. Cagle Cartoons. 26 May 2009 <[]>. (Picture Source)
 * Works Cited **

Choi, HyeongGyu. "Chinese Tear Bomb Turned into Murder Weapon." Yahoo! News. 16 Oct. 2008. Yahoo! 24 May 2009 <[]>. (Misc Source)

Collman, James. Naturally Dangerous Surprising Facts About Food, Health, and the Environment. New York: University Science Books, 2001. (Book Source)

Darkow, John. "With 7 You Get Free Antibiotics." Cartoon. Cagle Cartoons. 20 July 2007. Cagle Cartoons. 26 May 2009 <[]>. (Picture Source)

Gbajjang. "중국의 위대한 게임기." Rev. of POP Station. Weblog post. 크라이브의 하늘의 공명. 04 Nov. 2007. 24 May 2009 <[]>. (Primary Source)

Fan, Ying. "The Globalisation of Chinese Brands." 2006. BURA. Brunel University, London. <[]>. (Reliable Web Source)

Kazuma85. "중국산 짝퉁 그저 욕만 하기엔..." Weblog post. 페이의 수필집. 21 May 2009. 26 May 2009 <[]>. (Primary Source)

Lee, SangSu. "Korea Looking for Chinese Products." The Hangyeoreh. 12 Sept. 2005. The Hangyeoreh. 25 May 2009 <[]>. (Misc Source)

Luckovich, Mike. "Some of his toys were made in China." Cartoon. Daryl Cagle's Political Cartoonists Index. Msnbc. 26 May 2009 <[]>. (Picture Source)

Lynch, David J. "Do cheap Chinese goods have to mean trade-off in quality?" USATODAY.com. 03 July 2007. USA Today. 25 May 2009 <[]>. (Misc Source)

Ng, Ting Ting. "Canada Recalls China-Made Pencils on High Lead-Level Coating." Bloomberg.com. 03 Sept. 2007. Bloomberg. 25 May 2009 <[]>. (Misc Source)

Petersen, Barry. "Are Chinese Goods Safe?" CBS News. 14 Aug. 2007. CBS News. 25 May 2009 <[]>. (Video Source)

Tourtellotte, Bob. "Health food maker promotes China-Free products." Reuters. 06 July 2007. Reuters. 25 May 2009 <[]>. (Misc Source)