Seems like I can't turn on the news these days without hearing about how something has gone wrong in China, or how some company is recalling defective/contaminated products... made in China. This was all over the news the other day: A Death over Tainted Toys. According to China's Southern Metropolis Daily, Cheung Shu-hung, co-owner of Lee Der Industrial Co. Ltd., hanged himself in a warehouse on Saturday afternoon. His company apparently manufactured all of the nearly 1 million toys recalled by Mattel earlier this month. Very dramatic, rather sensational.
And yesterday, we get the news that fourteen people were killed and 65 were missing after a bridge under construction in southern China collapsed: Fourteen die in China bridge collapse, 65 missing. You can just see folks in America hearing this news, shrugging their shoulders, and blaming the usual bad Chinese engineering. Never mind that we saw a bridge collapse here the United States just two weeks ago (or are we blaming the Chinese for that one too?).
Heck, China is even responsible for a huge wave of counterfeit Harry Potter books. And I'm not talking about unofficial reproductions of Deathly Hallows. I'm talking about phony unauthorized installments of the series, written by hack Chinese writers (posing as J.K. Rowling) trying to cash in: Chinese Market Awash in Fake Potter Books. Bootleg titles include Harry Potter and the Hiking Dragon, Harry Potter and the Chinese Empire, and Harry Potter and Leopard-Walk-Up-to-Dragon. Here's a list of some of the fake books, with plot summaries: Memo to the Dept. of Magical Copyright Enforcement
And now, with the 2008 presidential election looming, China is starting to become a major foreign policy issue in the race: China becomes popular issue in 2008 race. Given the way China is looking in the news lately, it's likely some candidates will embrace bashing China as a way of winning votes.
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