Saving Face While Safeguarding Trade and Profit
Well, there goes the first willing and eager sacrifice for the greater good of greater China. Even the Chinese realize something has gone dreadfully wrong when they begin to claim that 'profit is supplanting safety'. Not a very good situation for home consumers, although the country itself is booming. But Chinese citizens are now truly angered over lax regulation and shoddy products that have impaired their trust in their government agencies taxed with protecting consumers.
"People are increasing outraged that profit is supplanting safety [in consumer products]," according to an analyst of Chinese politics based in Beijing. And so, the former head of China's food and drug safety agency was yesterday sacrificed on the alter of Saving Face. Zheng Xiaoyu, director of China's Food and Drug Administration for 7 years has now been sentenced.
Since his arrest authorities in China claimed they were in the process of reviewing no fewer than 170,000 pharmaceutical licensing approvals issued by his agency. Mr. Zheng was convicted of taking cash and gifts in the range of $832,000 in exchange of approvals for substandard medicines. During his tenure faulty medicines and fake infant formula led to the deaths of infants and adults.
These incidents and those involving international exports abroad where tainted and adulterated goods and foodstuffs, pet food implicated in the deaths of thousands of North American pets, toothpaste containing industrial chemicals and contaminated anti-biotics have given question to the reliability of products emanating from China.
Yet the move to the death penalty for Mr. Zheng is seen as China's responding to its own citizens' outrage at this breach in their protection against deleterious products. China is sensitive to the perception that she might be more worried about international reaction to her lapses in quality control and seeming unconcern for the harm done by adulterated products in the interests of achieving greater market control at all and any costs.
Growing international insistence on more reliable testing and screening mechanisms for goods imported from China in response to the latest scandals don't make Chinese authorities clap for joy. China has finally indicated it is prepared to mount new regulations and crack down on illegally exported products which bypass inspections.
Nothing like a little bad press, a little pressure, a little panic about the bottom line.
"People are increasing outraged that profit is supplanting safety [in consumer products]," according to an analyst of Chinese politics based in Beijing. And so, the former head of China's food and drug safety agency was yesterday sacrificed on the alter of Saving Face. Zheng Xiaoyu, director of China's Food and Drug Administration for 7 years has now been sentenced.
Since his arrest authorities in China claimed they were in the process of reviewing no fewer than 170,000 pharmaceutical licensing approvals issued by his agency. Mr. Zheng was convicted of taking cash and gifts in the range of $832,000 in exchange of approvals for substandard medicines. During his tenure faulty medicines and fake infant formula led to the deaths of infants and adults.
These incidents and those involving international exports abroad where tainted and adulterated goods and foodstuffs, pet food implicated in the deaths of thousands of North American pets, toothpaste containing industrial chemicals and contaminated anti-biotics have given question to the reliability of products emanating from China.
Yet the move to the death penalty for Mr. Zheng is seen as China's responding to its own citizens' outrage at this breach in their protection against deleterious products. China is sensitive to the perception that she might be more worried about international reaction to her lapses in quality control and seeming unconcern for the harm done by adulterated products in the interests of achieving greater market control at all and any costs.
Growing international insistence on more reliable testing and screening mechanisms for goods imported from China in response to the latest scandals don't make Chinese authorities clap for joy. China has finally indicated it is prepared to mount new regulations and crack down on illegally exported products which bypass inspections.
Nothing like a little bad press, a little pressure, a little panic about the bottom line.
Labels: Inconvenient Politics
posted by Pieface | 6:44 PM
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