CHINA - op-ed: I'll walk right past the aisles of China-made goods

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Des Moines Register

Opinion

Carlson: I'll walk right past the aisles of China-made goods By JOHN CARLSON,

Register Columnist

04/08/2001

Come along, if you have a couple of minutes, on a walk through the great big store.

You know the kind of store I'm talking about. One of those monstrous places that sells everything you can imagine, the kind of store you could live in the rest of your natural life, a store that sells baby diapers and 12-volt batteries, crayons and writing tablets, steaks, soft drinks, good whiskey, cheap gin, contact lenses and sure, adult diapers.

The store is right here, in the middle of Iowa, in the middle of America.

A couple of feet inside the front door are the compact discs, the videotapes and all the stuff that goes with them.

I pick up something called a "CD Wallet," used to store compact discs. It's a nice item, quite handsome and useful, and costs only $14.99. And says right there on the tag that it's made in China.

The very first item I pick up. Made in China.

I take a couple of steps. And there, looking very snappy and sleek, is a digital phone answering system. Made in China, the box says.

It's next to the cordless phones, clock radios, hi-fi systems and cameras. All made in China.

Starting to get a focus on this picture?

Two dozen American servicemen and women held prisoner in China. And here we are in Iowa, keeping the Chinese in business.

Let's look around some more.

There are aisles and aisles of electronics, and most of them are assembled and packaged by people under the domination of a totalitarian government. In China.

There are calculators, voice recorders, hand-held cassette players and paper shredders; telephones, CD players, garden hose coupling systems and light sockets; air purifiers, floor mats, mommy clothes, daddy clothes and the sweetest baby clothes you can imagine.

Every bit of it is made in China, by the people who hauled our sailors off our plane.

The Chinese are saying our four-engine prop plane rammed their fighter jet. Which is sort of like a Guernsey cow chasing down and stomping a cheetah to death.

The Chinese say the American government should apologize. Then, they'll probably let our people go.

The governments are in sensitive negotiations, our military people are under guard, and lots of average Americans are getting ticked off at the Chinese. You know. The people who probably made the garden hose nozzle you're buying today, getting ready for warm weather this spring in Iowa.

Me, I need a garden hose nozzle. But if it's made in China, I think I'll pass.

While our government is talking quietly with the Chinese about "regrets" and "mistakes," about "accidents" and "apologies," I'm going to start checking box labels.

If a package says "Made in China" or "Package Printed in China" or "Product Assembled in China," I'm putting it back on the shelf.

Who knows? I might find something that's actually made in the USA.

If not here, then Taiwan, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Mexico - anywhere but China. Sure, some of these other countries have cost some American working people their jobs. But that was an American self-inflicted economic wound.

This Navy plane business is something else entirely. Ask anybody who has worn a uniform. We put our officers and enlisted people out front and require them to do some very dangerous things. Like fly an unarmed plane over the South China Sea.

Once in a while, they end up in a mess.

One person leaving Chinese-made stuff on the shelf certainly won't change anything. It's even inconvenient, looking at all those labels. But it has to be better than tying a yellow ribbon around a tree and then going off and buying a tape recorder made in Shanghai. Heck, the ribbon probably was made in China.

I'll still shop in the big store.

But no Chinese-made sandals, universal TV remote controls, basketball shoes or stuffed animals. If I want a fluffy stuffed Easter bunny, I'll buy the one that's made in Malaysia.

Maybe I'll stop looking at package labels when our people come home.

And when the Chinese say they're sorry.



-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

Answers

Phoenix Business Journal 17:09 EDT Monday

Mesa Air Group initiates China boycott

Angela Gonzales The Business Journal

Jonathan Ornstein, chairman of Mesa Air Group in Phoenix, was getting dressed in a company-logo shirt when he noticed that it was made in China.

It was at that point when he decided to boycott anything made by The People's Republic of China as a result of its detention of 24 American service personnel following an April 1 mid-air collision between a U.S. intelligence-gathering plane and a Chinese fighter.

Ornstein is encouraging his 4,500 employees and other regional airlines to do the same. He also is contacting chambers of commerce to consider joining his company in the boycott.

"I don't feel comfortable buying stuff given they're holding these people essentially hostage," he said. "I feel at some point you've got to stand up and do something."

The airline executive said he gauged opinions of a few employees, many of whom were in the military, before taking a company stand.

"Employees were very proud that the company would take this step," he said.

Ornstein said he is checking into the company's vendor list to determine which products to boycott.

"I know there are products we buy from China," he said.

The airline flies to more than 138 cities in 36 states, the District of Columbia, Canada and Mexico. It operates as America West Express in the Southwest, as US Airways Express throughout the East and Midwest and independently as Mesa Airlines in New Mexico and Colorado.

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001


Not that I would encourage breaking the law, but I wonder what the penalty is if you're caught sticking labels reading "Made in China--Remember the crew!" on an orange fluorescent background on Chinese-made goods in stores?

-- Anonymous, April 09, 2001

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