By John Galt
August 14, 2011 – 22:30 ET
Maybe they got the idea from Michelle Obama, maybe not, but when the Communist Party decides to launch an attack on an industry in China, the companies had best pay attention and hope this isn’t about geopolitics. The story from this morning’s front page of the People’s China Daily, essentially the government owned newspaper and propaganda arm, for August 15th should have U.S. politicians getting nervous as the fast food giants will retaliate not against the Chinese but against our politicians who have been pressing for new protectionist legislation.
(Click on the title to read the entire story)
Some foreign fast food is harder to swallow
Problems with major brands raise public concern over safety, Zhang Yuchen reports in Beijing.Cheng Qizheng, 19, is a loyal fan of KFC, McDonald’s and other foreign fast food. He grew up frequenting their shops, believing their products to be clean and trustworthy.
But doubts raised on Weibo dented the confidence of Cheng and many others.
The quality of the soybean milk at KFC was called into question. So were the burgers at McDonald’s and the soup at Ajisen Ramen, a popular Japanese noodle shop.
Food safety was an issue in just one of these cases. The other two involved marketing claims and whether consumers thought the products were as good as advertised.
Sound daunting enough? Perhaps this is an indication that quality control might be in an issue with third world labor in a nation with first world superpower aspirations. The final sentence int the story after what appears to be an all out assault really hits it home:
Government supervision of fast foods is also insufficient, lawyer Qiu said. “The government should be able to supervise the whole chain of the fast food supply, but there is not a uniform set of standards and regulations. Lines between the functions of the involved administrative departments are blurred.”
The ChiComs might actually have a legitimate complaint about American fast food as I would never say that every burger joint I have visited has been up to snuff every time either. This report though seems to indicate that a case is being built though for retaliation and government intervention within the industry quite probably for retaliation against American politicians proposing massive currency and trade legislation which reeks of Smoot-Hawley and might be attached to a budget appropriation with massive Congressional support. Since it is an election year approaching, do not assume anything logical will occur when the morons return in session several weeks from now. The Chinese Communist Party does not appear to be assuming such and our multi-national corporations will bear the brunt of any regulatory retaliation or punitive penalties for our political ignorance.
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