China syndrome?

Al Jeratso

17 years ago

Categories: Business

The China syndrome is taking a heavy toll on imported products from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>. For that matter, everybody is now taking extra precautions as to what products they are buying in the markets, which are overflooded with cheap goods from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
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Even <st1:country-region w:st="on">America</st1:country-region>, which accommodated so much of Chinese-made goods, was awakened by the recent deaths of domestic pets that are pet food products from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>. The above incident has elicited uproar from consumers thus prompting Chinese authorities to investigate and meted death penalty to a high ranking food and drug official in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>. According to reports, the incident was spawned by the presence of contaminated food products which eventually killed the dogs and cats in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
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However, even with the recent execution of a Chinese official, the fear will hang in the air for a long time. Nobody knows for sure how it will go away. Perhaps, the black eye has caused so many losses on <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">China</st1:country-region></st1:place>’s exports, which are now being scrutinized further, especially food and drugs in order to avoid the same problem that the international consumers had experienced recently.
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We just never know how long will the stigma last. But for sure, consumers are keeping a watchful eye on whatever food stuffs they buy in the markets. Already, big supermarket chains are having a problem on how to discard their old stocks from <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">China</st1:place></st1:country-region>. And they are feeling the pinch. What they do now is dispose the items at a big bargain as a means to get rid of the old stock, at the expense of losing a great deal from the impacts of the boycott.

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Al Jeratso: Al Jeratso is a freelance journalist, writer, poet and blogger. Many of his articles, touching on a wide variety of issues, appeared in major leading dailies and magazines both in Manila and abroad, including the United States and England. He held various editorial positions with several media organizations, the last of which was as senior news editor of a newswires organization in Manila.