Buying from China

Personally, as much as I would like to, I think it is still much too early in China's development to give them the benefit of the doubt. So on one or two occasions, having been caught with their pants down (excuse the expression, it's the only one that came to me) they admitted there was a problem (usually after the press reported it first).

But freely, of their own will admit that their is a problem with their products? That doesn't sound like the Chinese govt. to me. In fact it's pretty obvious they are still doing everything they can to cover up such problems....and it's not just where Chiunese made products are concerned....reporters trying to gather info. on the latest bridge collapse were beaten up, they believe as intimidation for trying to report on yet another disaster within China.
And for how many months did the Chinese govt. cover up SARS in its own backyard...incidents like that are scary espec. when it directly affects those of us living in HK.

I will agree that the press is bias- wherever you go in the world, you have to be careful what you read and how you read, and ultimately decide your opinion and what you wish to do or not do with that information.

I will also agree that while China deserved to get the Olympics for the financial benefits it will bring its people- but it does not deserve the Olympics on the other hand because of the actions of its central government on many issues.
 
Mailmail, the reason I am singling out China is because I live in Hong Kong and this is a website run from Hong Kong. If I were living in Japan I would ask people what they think of food quality there. I am trying to take care of my family and am interested in finding out from other expats who live here how they feel about certain issues.

As for manipulation of the media, I think it is unreasonable to say that the US for examples suffers from the same issues as China when it comes to reporting. Whilst the US and other countries might 'bend' stories depending on who is reporting it the fact of the matter is stories CAN be reported and there are always many people ready to point out the truth when it is clear that the facts have been manipulated. In China on the other hand if the government decides that it doesn't want reporting on something it BANS it. This is one example for you http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,293597,00.html

Just type 'china bans' into google to see how far China has come.

As for China getting the Olympics, I think it is a shame. I feel sorry for the athletes who will have to compete in the pollution potentially damaging their health forever. the only good thing to come of it is that it is finally forcing China to do something about pollution and to clean up its act with regards to other issues that affect public perception.
 
aussiegal said:
Mailmail, the reason I am singling out China is because I live in Hong Kong and this is a website run from Hong Kong. If I were living in Japan I would ask people what they think of food quality there. I am trying to take care of my family and am interested in finding out from other expats who live here how they feel about certain issues.
Click to expand...


Yes, but please remember that it's not just "expats" who read and post on this forum. There are people like me, who are HK permanent residents who, although they grew up somewhere else, call Hong Kong home. There are also a fair amount of people on this website who were born and raised in Hong Kong or China.

I think that most people in Hong Kong are wary of both products and news coming out of China. We read, we sort, we evaluate, and we choose.

The Chinese language media in Hong Kong is very rich and full of information - some of which the Chinese Govt. would not allow published on the other side of the border. There is also a lot of local news that the English press (SCMP) ignores or is covered later than in the Chinese language newspapers.

I have found that Roland Soong's website "East South North West" is a wonderful source of information from the Chinese language media from HK, China mainland, and Taiwan, which he translates. It makes you understand that there is no monolithic "Chinese Govt. control" of media - there is censorship and control, but also things coming up through the cracks and other things that were once forbidden become OK. It's a very fluid and fascinating:

For example, here is a recent article published in a Chinese newspaper where the author is complaining about the lies and behavior of different government departments and other Chinese reporters.
http://www.zonaeuropa.com/200708.brief.htm#062



http://www.zonaeuropa.com/weblog.htm
 
Quoting Loupou - 'Yes, but please remember that it's not just "expats" who read and post on this forum.'

A couple of things. First, this is a forum where people are supposed to be able to post topics that are important to them. The question was in fact meant for expats who find themselves in the same position as me, i.e. they come from countries where the produce is good and reliable. if you are a local and have grown up eating mainland produce you will have immunity from most things you might pick up. The question as such is not really relevant to you - i don't need to hear 'i've eaten mainland food forever and i'm fine'. I want to know what steps other foreigners take to look after their families health.

Denying or playing down the censorship of the Chinese government and other shortcomings it has will not help anyone, certainly not the Mainlanders or Hong Kong locals who will live here forever. Most of us foreigners will get to leave at some point. If educated Chinese aren't going to stand up and say what is wrong or question what is going on then who will and how will change be affectuated? if you would like me to tell you what is wrong with Australia I will gladly do so... Challenging the status quo, asking questions is how we keep governments honest - or at least more honest than they would otherwise be.

It is interesting to see how quickly some locals responding have been to censor us foreigners who don't trust the food, the government, the media etc for our comments. The government has an interest (financial) in censoring stories it doesn't want the public to know about but when the people do it themselves it is infinitely more dangerous.
 
I'm a permanent resident, have lived in HK since I was a young teenager, and consider Hong Kong home....but I still refuse to put my family's health in danger because a mainland farm or food producing company is desperate to cut costs, or increase their profit margin.

There is no excuse for substandard food on our shelves, and no reason why we should not demand that food and health safety regulations are adhered to as they should be.

The Chinese govt. seems to think it 'unpatriotic' to tarnish China's image in anyway, but that is not a philiosphy I plan to buy into.
I don't think anyone is attacking China personally....the issue was raised after several food and non food items made in China were reacalled and advertised in the press...it seemed to be product after product and it's only natural that people were concerned.

If product after product had been found to of been unsafe, and made in the USA, Australia, Eurpope etc. then this post would have focused on products from those countries.

I think the issue of the safety of the food coming from China affects all of us as HK residents, regardless of wether we are expats, locals etc.
We all have a right to know that the food we are feeding our families is safe for them to eat, both in the short and long term.

I've read the SCMP for many years and have often complained about it's lack of substance....but never had reason to suspect it of anything apart from absolute neutrality....until reading it the other day, I did begin to question wether maybe it had been taken over by a mainland company....but we all read things different wats.
 
Boy, what started out as a question about buying Chinese food has now seen posts mentioning press censorship, the Iraq war, Chinese patriotism, the Olympics, the use of the forum, the people who use this forum, etc.... Very far reaching discussion.
Regardless, we still try to limit the amount of food from China we eat. Unfortunately, it is impossible to avoid. Sort of like the toys.
 
Aussiegal,

I do not think that my reply was "I've been eating mainland food for years and I'm fine.". Instead, I wrote what steps I take to be careful (washing things carefully, choosing HK-made processed foods over Chinese, etc.).

You wrote:
"if you are a local and have grown up eating mainland produce you will have immunity from most things you might pick up."

As I wrote in my initial reply - I did not grow up here, but I have lived here for 15 years.

It sounds by the quote above, what you fear is bacteria (you mention "immunity"). In that case, following the "local" methods of soaking and washing produce carefully is a useful practice to deal w/ Chinese grown produce.

Nor was I denying that censorship & manipulation exist. Your could perhaps say that I was "downplaying" it, because I pointed out that the censorship is not complete and overwhelming & that information does often get through; and the situation is much better than it was years ago, even 10 years ago.

I do not think that you have been "censored". Some people have disagreed with some of your sweeping statements and generalizations. That is not censorship.

I myself did what I thought was a gentle reminder asking you to be aware of other people's feelings when you write. That is not censorship either.
 
Quoting Loupou "I do not think that you have been "censored". Some people have disagreed with some of your sweeping statements and generalizations. That is not censorship.

I myself did what I thought was a gentle reminder asking you to be aware of other people's feelings when you write. That is not censorship either."

when it comes to my families health i am more than happy to be accused of generalizations with regards to buying food from china. In any case, i'm more than confident i either already have or could back up every statement i have made.

As for being aware of other people's feelings - i find that an odd comment. How can any Mainlander or Local take any negative comments made here (directed at China) personally if they are not personally responsible? It would be like me taking offence when someone says that public transport is bad in Sydney....

The immunity comment was not meant to be interpreted as only being concerned with bacteria, though that is a concern. What i did mean is that locals or people like yourself who have grown up eating food from China and as such have developed a 'tolerance' for what is put in mainland food - fillers, msg etc, stuff that is not allowed in most western countries.

Peace out!:grouphug:
 
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