Elaboration
I find it appalling that in these two instances, Chinese companies have knowingly and intentionally introduced harmful products purely in the interest of enhanced profits. In the case of the medicines, the act is more egregious because these compounds are above all intended to heal - not do more harm. Interesting, but in the western pharmaceutical industry - medicines are often referred to as ethicals...
In the case of the wheat gluten, the manufacturer intentionally added cyanuric acid and melamine to falsely increase the measured protein content of the product, hence raise the price. Again, we don't expect foodstuffs for either humans or pets to do harm.
We see the same behavior in cheap chinese made toys, where the pigments often contain massive quantities of lead, that EVERYONE knows is lethal to young children.
Now, we can make the arguement that US companies do precisely the same thing - and that every Corvair, Pinto, Ruger handgun, Big Mac, or Vioxx tablet is a willful act intended to increase shareholder wealth at the expense of consumer well-being.
The key difference is that our society (and most other developed nations) have well developed regulatory structures intended to ensure the safety of consumer products, foodstuffs and medicines. Not so in China, where unbridled passion for export dollars are behind such instances of wrongdoing. It's evidenced in constant Chinese failure to protect intellectual property as well.
If Chinese companies do such a piss-poor job in such critical industries as food and medicine - what must be the standards applied in unregulated industries such as autoparts? Being in the industry, our mailbox is flooded with offers to sell knock-off parts at prices that are a small fraction of the "real thing"
I realize China makes some terrific consumer goods, but for now, I'll tend to trust only chinese goods made under the auspices of modern standards of quality and safety. And for now, these are largely goods made for major Japanese, European and American firms - and regulated by their systems of laws and ethics.
