20 December, 2005

a year without china

Via Fons and ChinaFile, the Christian Science Monitor runs an essay by a Canadian an American writer who decided to do what so many others call for; she boycotted Chinese goods.

ChinachristmasBATON ROUGE, LA. – Last year, two days after Christmas, we kicked China out of the house. Not the country obviously, but bits of plastic, metal, and wood stamped with the words "Made in China." We kept what we already had, but stopped bringing any more in.

The banishment was no fault of China’s. It had coated our lives with a cheerful veneer of toys, gadgets, and $10 children’s shoes. Sometimes I worried about jobs sent overseas or nasty reports about human rights abuses, but price trumped virtue at our house. We couldn’t resist what China was selling.

But on that dark Monday last year, a creeping unease washed over me as I sat on the sofa and surveyed the gloomy wreckage of the holiday. It wasn’t until then that I noticed an irrefutable fact: China was taking over the place.

It stared back at me from the empty screen of the television. I spied it in the pile of tennis shoes by the door. It glowed in the lights on the Christmas tree and watched me in the eyes of a doll splayed on the floor. I slipped off the couch and did a quick inventory, sorting gifts into two stacks: China and non-China. The count came to China, 25, the world, 14. Christmas, I realized, had become a holiday made by the Chinese. Suddenly I’d had enough. I wanted China out.

AsiaPundit has previously noted that the Chinese had ’stolen’ Christmas and Diwali, and AP doesn’t mind this in the slightest. Investment in China is bringing changes domestically and it’s bringing cheaper goods to those overseas.

But for those who do seek a China boycott, read the whole CSM item and decide if it would be worth the effort.
(note comments for correction on nationality)

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by @ 9:03 pm. Filed under China, Asia, East Asia, Economy, Northeast Asia

3 Responses to “a year without china”

  1. hbb Says:

    Baton Rouge is in Louisiana, the southern state of the US hit by Hurricane Katrina. The writer is American, not Canadian.

  2. myrick Says:

    I am aware where Baton Rouge is, though the US does get flooded with Canadian journalists (better pay, more jobs) so I saw no reason to doubt Fons when he said she was Canadian. I’ll check with him and, if wrong, I’m sure we’ll both correct the error.

  3. daniel hellberg Says:

    She is American, born and raised in San Diego. Happens to be my older sister…DH

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