丹佛邮报 “中国制造”的希望

离圣诞节还有六周，小孩子的父母们有点惊慌。发生那么多玩具召回，似乎没什么是安全的了。今年圣诞节早晨堆在圣诞树下的礼物可能相当少。

　　几乎所有的召回都和中国生产的玩具有关。油漆含铅或者甚至珠子含药。孩子们生病，甚至死亡。就在上周，受欢迎的“水点（Aqua Dots）”被勒令撤出货架，因为如果儿童吞下珠子，珠子上的化学物就会在体内的新陈代谢作用下转化成类似于迷奸药的成份。

　　可以谴责的地方很多。大部分可归咎于削减成本的贪婪——这和即将来临的季节的精神相差甚远。玩具商人在海外购买产品，那里的劳动力和其他生产成本要便宜些。父母可能过于关注获得最低价的产品而忽略安全。

　　美国政府也太松懈。消费者产品安全委员会需要更多的检查员，更好的检验，与玩具业执行官保持专业的、有一定距离的关系。

　　对中国来说，这是一个大尴尬，它已经经历了有毒宠物食品、受污染的牙膏和假药丑闻。它如今特别痛苦，因为它正准备举办2008年奥运会，想向世界证明它有多进步。

　　但回顾几十年前，“日本制造”也是一句轻蔑语。那时美国出售的许多玩具来自日本。如今，对“日本制造”的看法刚好相反，它是质量的标志。

　　如果中国更努力地确保产品安全，它也有希望。美国制造商可以通过维持督促改善的压力作为帮助。这符合所有人的最佳利益。

Hope for "Made in China"

By The Denver Post

Article Last Updated: 11/12/2007 01:49:12 PM MST

With Christmas only six weeks away, parents of young children are in a bit of panic. So many toys have been recalled that it seems almost nothing is safe. The usual bounty under the tree on Christmas morning could be pretty sparse this year.

Almost all of the recalls involve toys made in China. There's lead in the paint or even drugs in the beads. Children have fallen ill, and even died.

Just last week, the popular product "Aqua Dots" was ordered off toy store shelves because the beads can metabolize into a chemical compound similar to a "date rape drug" if ingested by children.

There's plenty of blame to go around. Most of it can be chalked up to cost-cutting greed — a far cry from the spirit of the upcoming season.

Toy marketers are buying products abroad, where labor and other production costs are cheaper. Parents may be too concerned with getting the lowest price rather than the safest product.

The U.S. government has been lax, too. The Consumer Product Safety Commission needs more inspectors, better testing and a more professional, arm's length relationship with toy industry executives.

This has been a great embarrassment to China, coming as it does in the wake of toxic pet food, tainted toothpaste and fake drug scandals. It's especially painful now, as China is preparing to host the 2008 Olympics and wants to prove to the world how far it has advanced.

But then, "Made in Japan" used to be a pejorative decades ago, when many of the toys sold in the United States came from there. Now that label is regarded in just the opposite way, as a sign of quality.

There's hope for China, too, if it works harder to ensure product safety. U.S. manufacturers can help by keeping up the pressure for improvements. It's in everyone's best interest.