If officials have their way, local newspapers reported on Wednesday, English-speaking visitors will be able to order “beef and ox tripe in chili sauce,” an appetizer, rather than “husband and wife’s lung slice.”
Is is just me, or that name change only a slight improvement?
Another example:
“Bean curd made by a pock-marked woman,” as the Beijing Youth Daily rendered the spicy Sichuanese dish, is now “Mapo tofu.” And “chicken without sexual life” becomes mere “steamed pullet.”
I must confess, I do prefer that terms such as “pock-marked” and “without sexual life” are not part of the names of my lunch.
With the environmental problems in China, contaminated red rivers and the like, the mistreatment of their athletes and the slaughter of the Tibetans the US should really start considering pulling out of the Olympics. I think that this would send a loud message to the communist government that this behavior is unacceptable. Unfortunately, I don’t see this happening, the Olympics has become a “big business” and money seems to trump these terrible incidents.
Scientists say the beads contain a chemical that the human body metabolizes into the so-called “date rape” drug gamma hydroxy butyrate. When eaten, the compound — made from common and easily available ingredients — can induce unconsciousness, seizures, drowsiness, coma and death.Via the AP: Australia pulls ‘date rape’ drug toy
Australian officials ordered a popular Chinese-made children’s toy pulled from the shelves after scientists found it contained a chemical that converts into a powerful “date rape” drug when ingested.
Three children have been hospitalized over the past 10 days after swallowing beads from Bindeez, named Australia’s toy of the year at an industry function earlier this year.
[...]
Not only is it Toy of the Year, but it’s an illicit substance!
This qualifies as the oddest thing I have read/heard today.
Toymaker Mattel is voluntarily recalling 9 million of its toys including popular characters such as Batman, Barbie, Polly Pockets and a toy from Pixar’s “Cars” movie because of hazards to children, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission said Tuesday.
[...]
All of the toys were manufactured in China.
The issue at hand appears to be magnets that can be swallowed:
if more than one magnet is swallowed they could cause intestinal damage and other injuries.
I have noted in the past that consumers may start balking at Chinese made products . However, if Chinese manufacturers are going to start costing big companies like Mattel and Fisher-Price big bucks, then the pressure is going to come from those companies to fix these problems or else they will take their manufacturing contracts elsewhere.
And actually, they should have known better on the magnet issue. China already had a “kids swallowing multiple magnets” recall on the Magnetix brand toys that my youngest son likes. They have had time to supposedly fix the problem and get those products back on the shelves.
Comment by Jan — Tuesday, August 14, 2024 @ 9:57 am
I think Mattel should be responsible for designing and selling the toys which contain magnets. There is nothing related to where these products are made, but who designed and sold them.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Tuesday, August 14, 2024 @ 12:01 pm
Absolutely, Vivian. We need to hold our own government and corporations responsible.
Having said that, I have been more than “balking” at “made in China” for a very long time. I’ve taken to asking at any restaurant where their ingredients are from, and I always explain why. And I look for labels on products. (I am not much in the toy market these days, but the same conscious-consumer procedures apply across the board.)
I prefer not to support dictatorships when consuming, whether food or any product, and it is that absence of rule of law and worker/citizen rights that is at the bottom of these dangerous foods and toys.
Of course, in some product areas (shoes, e.g.) it is very hard to find anything made in democratic countries of the developing world. And even those often have minimal oversight of standards. We notice China, in particular, because it is so big and so attractive for US (and other) foreign corporate investment.
Comment by MSS — Tuesday, August 14, 2024 @ 12:12 pm
It is Mattel’s responsibility to monitor their production process, including all the materials and supplies that are being used. The problem is not ‘Made in China’. It doesn’t matter where the sourcing is done. The same thing can happen in India or Vietnam. Mattel’s control system if there is one has failed. The U.S. law is very clear, the importer is responsible for the quality of the goods they are bring into the country. Mattel should face legal actions!!!
Comment by NWC — Wednesday, August 15, 2024 @ 2:52 pm
IT TRULY AMAZES ME THAT THE MATTEL TOY COMPANY SITS UP WITH A START AND SAYS WHAT HAPPENED HERE. WELL WHEN YOU SEND YOUR WORK OVERSEAS TO BE DONE THEY DO NOT HAVE TO BE REGULATED LIKE HERE IN THE UNITED STATES WHAT A BUMMER. SO THE CHAINESE GOVERNMENT DOES NOT CARE WHAT THEY USE IN MAKING THE TOYS THEY ARE ONLY INTERESTED IN THE JOBS IT HAS REQIRED THERE FOR THEIR PEOPLE. SO NOW THE MATTELL TOY COMPANY IS AGAST AT THE OUTCOME OF WHAT HAS HAPPENED.???
THAT IS WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU SEND THINGS OVERSEAS TO BE DONE TAKING AWAY JOBS HERE IN AMERICA WHERE OUR OWN PEOPLE NEED JOBS. WHY BECAUSE ITS CHEAPER THERE A FEW CENTS ON THE DOLLAR AND THEY DO NOT HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT UNIONS EITHER. WELL SO MUCH FOR A GLOBAL ECONOMY WE HAVE HIGHER STANDARDS HERE AND THAT IS WHAT MADE AMERICA GREAT THE STANDARDS WELL WHERE ARE THEY NOW. NOW OUR CHILDREN ARE AT RISK WITH LEAD PAINT BEING USED AND SMALL ITEMS FALLING OFF OR BITTEN OFF BY SMALL CHILDREN. THIS IS WHY THEIR IS A THING CALLED QUALITY CONTROL BUT THERE ISN’T ANYMORE. THIS IS ONLY A SMALL PORTION OF WHAT GOES ON NOW ON THE INTERNATIONL MARKET PLACE AND WE ARE AT RISK NOW MORE THAN EVER WHERE DOES IT END. IF ALL IN THE MARKET PLACE WANT THINGS DONE OVERSEAS THEN MAKE DAME SURE THAT QUALITY CONTROLS ARE IN PLACE AND TO MAKE SURE PAINT ETC IS SAFE AND ANYTHING ELSE THAT IS MAKE OVERSEAS IS SAFE.
I’m a little curious as to why more diecast toys such as Hot Wheels or Matchbox cars have not been listed; I would think that if the Chinese were cutting corners using cheap lead based paint that more metal or diecast toys would be suspect???
The former head of China’s State Food and Drug Administration, Zheng Xiaoyu, has been executed for corruption, the state-run Xinhua news agency reports.
He was convicted of taking 6.5m yuan ($850,000; £425,400) in bribes and of dereliction of duty at a trial in May.
The bribes were linked to sub-standard medicines, blamed for several deaths.
China has been criticised over a number of recent cases involving tainted goods, and correspondents say Zheng had become a symbol of the crisis.
[...]
Zheng’s sentence was seen as unusually harsh for such a senior figure, but the BBC’s Dan Griffiths in Beijing says the government hopes the execution shows it is getting to grips with the crisis.
Looks like the various negative stories about Chinese exports have gotten the government’s attention. This comes across as much as a PR move/damage control as it does the dispensing of justice.
If Zhang’s corruption led to people dying as the article mentions, the sentence isn’t unreasonable. In South Korea if you’re a businessman whose greed causes a department store to collapse killing 500 people, or you’re an Illinois politician sellin…
[...] Dr. Taylor is probably right, the Chinese government is doing so me PR to counteract the questions of food safety when it comes to products from that country. If Zhang’s corruption led to people dying as the article mentions, the sentence isn’t unreasonable. In South Korea if you’re a businessman whose greed causes a department store to collapse killing 500 people, or you’re an Illinois politician selling licenses and one of those unqualified drivers kills six children, well you’ll get off with little more than a wrist slap. Where do you think justice was served properly? [...]
According to the Great Firewall of China, PoliBlog is able to evade the censoring power of China’s firewall system. (And, actually, I am inclined to believe it, as I had some trackback spam attacks that came from mainland China this weekend….hmm, maybe I should get them to start filtering me…).
My site is available in China too, apparently. I’ve noticed hits from China before. If they are so limited in where they can go on the Internet, maybe that explains how they ended up at my humble little blog.
China’s military budget will increase by 17.8% in 2024, the spokesman for the National People’s Congress has said.
[...]
Mr Jiang said the money would be used to increase wages for military personnel and to upgrade weapons, but gave no further details.
China says its military budget rose by 14.7% last year to $36.6bn (£18.6bn), but the US and other observers believe the actual figure may be two or three times that amount.
Correspondents say China is seeking to modernise its huge but often poorly-equipped military forces by building or purchasing new ships, missiles and fighter planes.
This should hardly be a surprise, given China’s goals for both regional and global significance. Similarly, it is hardly surprising the the US (and the Japanese, amongst others) would look askance at such a move. Welcome to the world of international relations, where everyone is a rational hypocrite: weapons for me, but outrage aimed at thee.
I also wonder as to the degree to which the Chinese government is using the military as a way of upping the economic status of the vast number of peasants who live outside the growth zones of the country.
I further wonder as to the sustainability of massive spending increases for defense and what percentage of Chinese GDP is spent on this front.
Via the BBC: 
With the environmental problems in China, contaminated red rivers and the like, the mistreatment of their athletes and the slaughter of the Tibetans the US should really start considering pulling out of the Olympics. I think that this would send a loud message to the communist government that this behavior is unacceptable. Unfortunately, I don’t see this happening, the Olympics has become a “big business” and money seems to trump these terrible incidents.
Comment by CV — Tuesday, March 18, 2024 @ 9:37 am