Made in China

[Sugar Ray]

China is the world's biggest polluter, has a dubious human rights record and shocking working conditions which is hidden from the Western World.

Is it about time we looked at ourselves as a consumer nation and make a stand against buying cheap chinese products?

China like Russia don't care about the environment so isn't in the consumers hands to look at ourselves on a deeper level and act by buying more ethically

[Gromit]

Where is your telly made, I bet it is China.

The problem is that people do not think the way you advocate when making a purchase.

[jno]

why just cheap Chinese products? Any cheap product is probably that way because it has been made by cheap labour somewhere. The British seem to me particularly eager to buy things cheap and boast how little they paid, whether it's shoes or holidays. That's why the Chinese get away with it: we don't just let them, we actively encourage it.

But making things cheaply to sell abroad has actually been the salvation of some countries - remember when Japan was chiefly known for low-cost goods? Or when everything seemed to be made in Korea? The money these countries made has turned them into wealthy nations; as people there get rich, their labour is no longer cheap and the business of sewing T-shirts goes elsewhere. So you have to consider whether a boycott would simply keep China impoverished, and whether this is a good thing.

[Reverandfunk]

Ray I guarantee you that if you put a chinese product against a european product most people would go for the cheaper chinese one and not give two hoots. The same could be applied to other far eastern countries, sweatshops in India and Africa. The only way to stop people buying these cheap imports would to be to ban them and that won't happen because then China or whoever will go on about restrictions of trade etc etc, I think there has already been a case of this.

Bottom line: cheapest = what people buy

[Goodsoulette]

I totally agree with you Sugar Ray. I personally think people wont give a rats arse though. Its a want want want nation and people just need to have it now. I think its time governments started thinking about these things for us, they could stop trade with these countries until human rights were observed. In 2008 you will not be able to buy a cosmetic product in the Eu from a company that continues to test on animals so why is it okay to have a product that has treated workers like they were in a victorian poorhouse? Im all for banning Japanese products until they change their stance on whaling too.

[LeMarchand]

If I were in the tin foil hat brigade, I'd suspect that there was a conspiracy to ensure that the poor in this country were kept poor. Whilst the idea of boycotting goods from such a country is one that seems to be a good one, what would actually happen? The manufacturing would just switch to another cheap country though chances are that the price to the consumer would go up, and - yet again - the rich would get richer while the poor got poorer.