Made-in-China Paint on Tian'anmen

Barely one month after the 60th anniversary of the Communist Regime, paint on the Tian'anmen is starting peeling off badly. The historic and political significant building was re-painted for the ceremony.

Xinhua News reported the renovation project was completed on September 10. Due to the sensitivity of the time and location, all labors must pass three layers of political examination and security clearance.

Tian'anmen is often seen as the symbol of ruling, or in ancient Chinese saying, the piece of land the emperor stood on. In west they say, the writing is on the wall, and now everyone saw it.

source

Sony Promised Stable Pricing on BluRay Players

SONY US CEO Stan Glascow announced that BluRay DVD players would enjoy a controlled pricing development after defeating Toshiba's HD-DVD as the only left standing DVD standard. The priority now is to persuade consumers to upgrade their DVD players.

Glascow stated that currently the bottom level of BluRay players were sold at $399. The bottom model price will be decreased to $299 on Christmas 2008, then $200 on Christmas 2009. Glascow also promised that the BlyRay players would enjoy a controlled descending in price rather than any free fall. SONY promised it would not license any Chinese manufacture to produce BluRay DVDs.

Before Chinese vendors joined the DVD player making business, a bottom model regular DVD was sold above $200 in a discount store like Wal-Mart. It could be bought at below $20 today.

Made In China Refrigerator Sank Japanese Warship

Japanese warship was burned down last December, days after Japanese media criticized visiting Chinese destroyer was not properly fireproof. At the time it was a big irony, maybe not as much because it was just revealed that a Made-in-China refrigerator was responsible for the fire.

昨年12月、海上自衛隊の横須賀基地（神奈川県）に停泊中の護衛艦「しらね」（基準排水量5200トン）で発生した火災で、隊員が無許可で持ち込んだ「保冷温庫」が原因だった可能性が高いことが24日、判明した。防衛省首脳が明らかにした。保冷温庫は中国製で、戦闘指揮所（CIC）で隊員が飲む缶入り飲料を冷やしたり温めたりする目的で使われていたといい、何らかの理由で過熱、発火したとみられる。
　護衛艦の修理には約60億円が必要といい、同省は関係者の処分を検討している。同首脳は「他の艦艇でも同様に無許可で持ち込まれた電化製品がないか調べている」と説明した。

DDH-143 しらね (Shirane) Helicopter Destroyer was complete construction in 1980, and went through modernization in 1984. The warship belonged to First Escort Flotilla. With standard displacement 5,200T (full displacement 6,800T), the ship carries three helicopters and was the first Japanese warship to be fitted with 3D radars.

The Manufacturer's Cost of A Made-in-China DVD Player

Although China made the most DVD players in the world, it does not own any of the core patents in this technology. After the MPEG group announced an extra $2.5 per piece patent licensing fee in May 2006, the patent licencing cost per made-in-China DVD player exceeds $20. In other words, the Chinese manufacturers pay more than $20 for each DVD players they made. And the licensing cost is still keep raising. Philips just submitted another batch of related patent to the Chinese patent office.

Consumer's final cost of a DVD player found on Froogle today:

Insignia™ DVD Player with MP3 Playback/JPEG Viewer	$25.45	Best Buy
Coby Compact DVD Player - DVD207	$29.99	Target
SpectronIQ 1-disc Progressive Scan DVD Player	$29.99	Sears

Chinese Government Does not Trust Made-In-China

Hefei government published an air-conditioning purchase announcement on Nov 16, which explicitly excluded any made-in-China products in participation, not even those with foreign brand and only assembled in China. Lack of technical specification, the announcement only required that the air-conditioning must be imported in its entity (not in parts and then assembled in China). Actually, this has been the case for years. The Chinese government does not trust made-in-China product. Whatever they say on the newspaper and TV, they do not want to use made-in-China product themselves. The Party Boss Mr. Li of the Bureau of Homeland Resources told the reporters of Anhui Business News that they must use the 'best' product.

What's even more ironic and drama is that the Hefei government just signed a deal with the Gree Air-conditioning Company to build a manufacture base that will produce 30 million air-conditioner per year, or one thirds of the world market.

Hefei is the capital city of Anhui Province in Central China.

Cheap Made-in-China Products Cost Environment

Cheap made-in-China products filled discount stores such as Wal-Mart and Target around the US. They are also making the record-high trade deficit between US and China. Although Chinese has a large population with more diligent an better educated workers, but one key factor that contributes to the low manufacturing cost of made-in-China products is the zero liability of environment damage.

Mr. Ma Jun, the director of the Research Institute of Public and Environment, an Non-government organization, provided a list of 33 foreign invested companies, who took advantage the ignorance of environment in the rush to making economic progress in China.

Riding the bureaucracy, corruption, and greedy of local government, these foreign invested companies were able to omit any environment issues they would have to face in their home countries, or practically anywhere else in the world. Not only they enjoy the much looser regulation, if any exist, on environment in China, but also they can get away from ignoring them. Many foreign companies have become the biggest pollution makers in China. Among the list:
Shanghai Panasonic Battery,
Changchun Pepsi;
Shanghai Nestle;
Shanghai 3M;
American Standard;
Shanghai Pizzahut;
Xiamen Noell Crane Systems;
Zhejiang Purolite;
Hunan Yamah

Ma Changbo, Xunan, Investigation of Pollution Produced by Foreign Companies, Nanfang Weekend, Oct 26th, 2006;
China Water Pollution Data Center