Chinese counterfeiting rife in health goods

[old man emu]

Australian Border Force recently impounded four container loads of counterfeit medical equipment coming into the country from China. It should not surprise anyone, as a visit to any 2-Dollar shop will reveal shelves full of extremely close copies of copyrighted goods. In fact, counterfeiting seems to be the way the Chinese do business. And their system of government seems to encourage counterfeiting, or at least turn very blind eyes to it.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-05-07/chinese-police-crack-down-on-fake-australian-products/9720578

 

I won't pile praise on the American Way, either. Who would want to live in a country that absolutely refuses to embrace universal health care simply because it's the thin edge of the Socialism wedge? As a result, the population cannot hope to treat those who have access to money, or insurance, for medical expenses, let alone the masses of underpaid and unemployed its deteriorating manufacturing industries can't employ.

 

Notice that for the most part, those countries with something like universal, tax-funded health care are the ones that have been able to put a lid on the pandemic in their countries.

[Jerry_Atrick]

A couple of companies I used to work for flat refused to do business with China as they were niche areas and knew that their clients would sell on the tech to local Chinese companies and that would be lights out for these SMEs.

 

Huiwaeii (however it is spelled) have already been found to have back doors in their technology to spy on devices and they have close links to the government. The EU have fianlly woken up and realised that much of Chinese large corporates are state subsidised and now are slapping much higher requirements on Chinese takeovers of European companies because of it. The US have finally admitted that cheap isn't always better - a result of COVID-19 is that they are acting to bring manifacturing of core/mission critical products out of China - this is not a Trumpism thing...

 

There have been other countries that competed heavily for manufacturing and won.. Japan originally produced cheap carp and then improved it, and then as the economy developed, it struggled as cheaper countries moved in. Same for Taiwan.. India is going the same way. The difference is, these countries largely have democractic values and respect the rule of law, etc (to the point where polities have integrity). China is an altogether different beast. I appluad some of their initiatives, but remain very distrustful at this stage of thir intentions. I hope to be proven wrong - and quickly...

 

[Edit]

In prepartion to the obvious question.. do I trust America?

 

As longs as I (meaning a country) don't pi$$ them off, they won't generally try and take me over.. I can't say the same for CHina...

[old man emu]

It's a truism that anything Mankind creates has two sides - Good and Bad.

 

Paul Keating promoted a policy of closer relations with China. Initially it worked well, but that was at a time when China was still hamstrung by Maoist principles. Twenty-five years on, China has developed principles that integrate Capitalist and Communist principles to create a version of Communism that is distinctly Chinese, and a resultant economy that challenges the purely Capitalist ones of the West, in particular the USA.

 

Love him or loathe him, Keating seems to be a person with a strong, on-going knowledge of the Chinese. He still has logical things to say about the relationships between China, the USA and Australia.

 

Take the time to read this speech Keating gave in November 2019, Paul Keating's speech on Australia's China policy – full text | Paul Keating

 

It is a well presented, even-handed assessment of the conflict between the USA and China.

 

A quote form it:

I think it is true to say the US remains the most ideological major society on earth. It believes, as a nation and as a system, it has the democratic formula and the universal values – which values it is committed to propagate. On the other hand, China’s historical view is not rooted in ideological aspiration, universal or otherwise. It sees its legitimacy arising from its ethnic one-ness and bulk, and its geopolitical pre-eminence on the Asian mainland.

[Jerry_Atrick]

Hmmm.. Don't get me wrong - but, there really isn't much in that speech... And this article is linked to: China hits back at Australia's foreign minister for highlighting human rights abuses

 

Now, I know no country is perfect and I think the US treatment of Iraq, Hussein and the "illegal combatants at Guantonamo Bay fell short of expectations, but to say China is not ideological is a like - Communism, like democracy is an ideology... and China are one of the few the implement it so effectively... And its ideology is the basis of its societal structure and the actions, often unfortunately, it takes. Tianeman Square, anyone?

 

I agree with the sentiment of Keating's article - but he does look at China through rose coloured specs...

[old man emu]

I think his analysis of where China was going during the 1990's was viewed through pretty crystal clear glasses and given astute consideration. The trouble has been that what he, and so many of us failed to consider was that what was in its infancy in the 1990's has now reached an energetic young adulthood. Looking back on what happened in the '90's tends to involve rose coloured glasses.

 

The other problem we have is that our morality and Chinese morality come from very, very different sources. Nearly 2000 years living under the influence of Christianity's ideals and mores has, perhaps, as a culture made us more inclined to put our own desires less to the fore when dealing with others. Other cultures project a more, "me first, last, and every other time" morality.

[Yenn]

OME if what you say is true, how come USA is surely a Christian state, excessively so in my opinion, but is also a me first state. They have never done anything that was not of benefit to the USA.

[old man emu]

how come USA is surely a Christian state, excessively so in my opinion, but is also a me first state.

 

Too true. When I wrote what I did, I was thinking only of the basic morality of Australians, and also of Western Europeans, and comparing it to the perception of Chinese (and Indian) morality.