The Portrait of a Cheap and Dangerous "Olympic Host" -- The
'Made-In-China' Danger Ultra low wages paid to workers for
ultra-low-cost products

The 'Made-In-China' Danger

Ultra low wages paid to workers for ultra-low-cost products

By Lin Yali

Watching China

Oct 05, 2007

http://en.epochtimes.com/news_images/2007-10-5-chuxqs76089480.jpg
Chinese labourers rebuild truck engines at a factory of China National
Heavy Duty Truck Group in Jinan, Shandong province of China. (Guang
Niu/Getty Images)

The Wang couple from New Jersey decided to purchase a baby crib on
September 22, 2007. "Just as we were leaving the house, a friend of ours
called saying that he happened to watch the news regarding the recall of
over one million infant cribs that were made in China," said Mr. Wang.
"With this new information my wife paid special attention to the crib's
country of origin that we were planning to purchase."

On September 21, 2007, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
(CPSC) announced a recall of about one million China-made cribs from
among 11 styles designed by U.S. crib supplier, Simplicity Incorporated.
These cribs have been sold in the U.S. market through both the Target
Corporation and the Babies "R" Us Company from January 1998 to May 2007.

The CPSC pointed out that the drop-side of the crib can easily detach
creating a dangerous gap that led to two infants suffocating to death. A
third similar fatality is still under investigation. The spokesperson
for the CPSC added that the recall is due mainly to defects in the
design and not with the assembly operations in China.

That same day, the world largest U.S. toy company, Mattel, apologized to
China for the recent recall of 21 million Chinese-made toys. Mattel
confessed that among the recalled toys, 87 percent were due to design
flaws, while 13 percent were due to use of lead paint.

With several months of bad press concerning the safety of products that
come out of China, twists to these recent stories suggest that these
U.S. companies share a significant portion of the blame. But consider
all the incidents involving China's product safety over the past year,
and a definite pattern begins to emerge.

Safety Problems with Chinese-made Products in 2007

Toys In August, Peru confiscated over 60 tons of Chinese-made toys.
Peruvian authorities believe that toys contain toxic substances
including lead.
Tires In June, a U.S. company dealing with imported tires was forced to
recall some 500,000 tires made by China's Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co.
Ltd. in the wake of a deadly car accident. Hangzhou Zhongce Rubber Co.
Ltd. has failed since 2002 to insert an important gum strip between the
steel belts which may result in the tread and/or belts separating from
the tire.

Toothpaste In May, a poisonous ingredient known as diethylene glycol
was found in Chinese-made toothpaste sold in Panama, Australia, and the
U.S. To cut costs, the ingredients propylene glycol and glycerine were
replaced by the much cheaper, but toxic diethylene glycol

Cough Syrup At the end of April, at least 365 Panamanian patients died
after consuming cough syrups containing diethylene glycol. 100 of these
deaths have been confirmed as poisoning. The toxic glycerin was found
to be manufactured by the Taixing Glycerine Factory in China's Jiangsu
Province.

Pet Food Since March, many pets have been poisoned after eating dog and
cat food manufactured by the Menu Goods Company. At least 8,000 cats and
dogs have become ill and dozens died as a result of eating the
contaminated pet food. Cyanamid dichloride, the poisonous substance
found in the pet food's wheat and rice protein powders, were imported by
Menu Foods Company from both the Xuzhou Anying Biologic Technology
Development Co. Ltd. in Jiangsu Province and the Binzhou Futian
Biological Technology Development Company in Shandong Province.

Ultra Low Prices with Ultra Low Wages
Please see our complete listing of articles about contaminated Chinese
imports: Tainted Products From China

With so many stories concerning the safety of Chinese-made products,
many in the West have started to ask, "What has gone wrong with China?"
As reporters began to dig into the story, many began to reveal the
appallingly low wages earned by Chinese laborers. The article "China,
The Violin Prodigy" published on the Los Angeles Times on Jan. 13, 2007,
mentioned that the violins made in China are "incredible." A violin
maker in Studio City, California is quoted as saying, "They're just
gorgeous instruments for the price." But at what cost do we enjoy this
low price? The following summary from that article shows the hourly pay
of workers in mainland China based on both domestic and overseas media
reports.

Wages Paid to Workers in China in 2007

Position Wage (US dollars)
Shenzhen Longhua Taiyang Electrical Co., Ltd.(Guangdong Province)
Skilled worker with more than one year experience $0.47 per hour
Taixing Fengling Musical Instrument Co., Ltd. ( Jiangsu Province)
Skilledl worker, violin assembly $0.50 per hour
Dongwan Toy Industry (Guangdong Province) Ordinary laborers
$0.25