With many of the chemicals going into our medicine

[Beatchanter]

coming from unregulated Chinese Chem Plants, is it safe? Or is this just yet another example, of millions, of free trade not working as good as traditional American Capitalism? (Which includes government safety regulations, laws for corporations... who would have to pay taxes because they're not "offshore", and tariffs similar to the countries with which we trade)http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/31/world/asia/31chemical.html?ei=5065&en=5bb8c4f76b096d34&ex=1194408000&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=printOh yeah... we'll just let the Red Chinese regulate them and then trust them right? Free Trade Capitalism is UnAmerican.Hi Jim... Just a quick correction on one of your mistakes, which is a common mistake. Communism is a form of government, while Capitalism is an Economic system. They are not opposites as many misinformed such as Ayn Rand (coming from a communist country that was also anti-capitalistic) thought. A country can be a Democracy and follow a Capitalistic economic system, or can claim to be Communistic and do the same. Many of the Totalitarian regimes of the 19th century were also quite capitalistic. (Look at any Charles Dickens novel to see what I mean)

[metaxas]

youre never safe. theres nothing you can do about it. our lives are at the mercy of rich powerful people whom we have absolutely no influence over. they only care about profits. whether you live or die means nothing to them.

[just plain jim]

Recently China executed one of its top officials for accepting bribes to approve drugs that he knew were bad that eventually resulted in death.China has made it a top priority to rein in its pharmaceutical industry lax practices. All of this being done in the wake of a some products coming from China that have proven to be dangerous. Some of those products we dangerous because American companies, demanding cost cutting, and without proper oversite and instructions, let these products come into our markets. Mattel Toys ended up apologising to China for this. Source:http://www.mattel.com================There is a ton of disinformation about China in the west.To set the record straight, while this is lengthy, you may want to read it and find out some facts, and check out the links while you're at it.-----------------------------China is not communist nor is it socialistic.It is also often referred to as totalitarian and a dictatorship.Both are equally as wrong too.Communism:is a the opposite of capitalism so therefore it is impossible they are communistic. The first people who were allowed to use limited capitalism were the farmers back in the 50's because of the failure of collective farming. The whole country is one huge capitalistic machine now.Socialistic:means the state controls all production, manufacturing and business. That is impossible as well since individuals own businesses and those state run businesses are a mixture of state and private working side by side. Currently today, less then 20% is state owned. 30 years ago it was 100%. Example, their oil industry is a mix of private and state working together and their cost per gallon of gas is $2.25. There are no taxes added, all the revenue and profits are done before that with both private and state profiting. The USA could do that same, but we'd rather pay $1 more per gallon then allow any kind of socialism to creep into our economy. Our socialism is through war for oil while ignoring what the people really need.Totalitarian:means the state controls all aspects of life. That is simply not the case as individuals are free to seek new employment, open businesses, travel at will, immigrate, buy homes, become rich, buy any consumer product they want without permission, in short, do just about anything the people in the west take for granted.Dictatorship:They have an election system in place that is at the province level. Those elected officials, who are elected by the people, are then sent to Beijing to represent the people there and those people elect the president, much like many government systems in the world, like Britain.One party rule:True, but in recent years the government is encouraging people from outside the party to become involved in government and politics. They can also hold high office, something that was unheard of a few years ago. China understands that it needs new blood in its system in order to survive and do the will of the people otherwise China will stagnate.What type of government does China have?At this point, it is hard to say, because it is a mixture of democratic ideals, federalism, socialism, and authoritarian. From what I can see, and how China likes change slowly, that it is slowly morphing into a democratic federal republic, much like the USA has now. But at their own pace, not the instant change that the west demands of China. China is smart enough to know that instant change can have social and political repercussions and its best to take it slowly as to not wake the angry dragon of discontent and descent.Source:My experience, living here as an ex pat from the USAMy web site.http://www.pbase.com/sailingjimhttp://www.china.org.cnand see how their system works. Use their search engine and put in the words democracy, then communism, then socialism. You'll probably be surprised at the results you get. Keep in mind, the people read the same things you will read there.===============Looking at the China bashing pragmatically instead of with a blind eye like so many do.The Amnesty International types of organizations depend on donations to survive. Therefore, they have a vested interest to believe one side of the story while ignoring the other side to keep up the hate and the money coming in.Therefore, what should be done is we need to look into the lifestyle of the CEO's of these organizations, what percentage of donations goes into education vs administrative, salaries, etc.What I find disingenuous with so many people is they will selectively believe these organizations on issues they want to believe, while condemning them on issues they don't want to believe.Much of the information comes from people who have a ax to grind, or the information is collected from 3rd and 4th parties. Remember, we went to war in Iraq, in part, because of the word of ex pats who made claims that have since been disproved, even outright lies.I live here in China as an ex pat from the USA and teach in a college. I expected to meet dissidents, and to date, I have not met one. The people in China seem to be very apathetic and it took me a long time to figure out why. It's because they have more freedom then anytime in their history and they are grateful for that. The biggest complaint I have heard about the government from students is they don't spend enough on education.A final thing to ponder is Tianamen Square. Few in the states know why it started. It was because the government cut back on college spending and the students were upset. It morphed into a democracy movement and the crowds were huge only because the people were curious. The reason the movement was brutally crushed (I do not support that) is because with world wide attention, plus it was all over the Chinese news that the government appeared to be weak and could possibly be overthrown. The aftermath of that, is anyones guess what they would have ended up with. We are now seeing what instant change has done in two countries that we have gone to war with that never had democracy before and have a long history of human rights abuses.======They have a very stable society and government.Foreign companies are not afraid to invest there.China learns by its successes and mistakes.China is a very old and wise country.China has an over abundance of brain powerChina is very innovative.China is not afraid to go outside of their country for answers to questions and problems they have.China is very careful not to let foreign investment take over like they allowed to happen two centuries ago.China plans for the future through five year and one year plans that are changable.China's government is slowly morphing into a federal democratic republic, much like the USA but at their own pace.China realizes that to limit people in government only to one party is counter productive and in recent years is encouraging people outside the party to become involved in government and even run for office.China is much of what we want her to be and little of what we think she is.===============PeaceJim

[freepress02]

free market,,,money and profit talk,,,I think when it comes out that we all have been poisoned by the chinc free market AMERICANS,,,,big time heads will fill the duffel bags as chocking reflexes terrorize real Americans...maybe marshal law,,could be that bad,,,,