Beneath the Peak

This is truly gross.

According to the Washington Post, a Beijing factory has been caught recycling up to 100,000 pairs of used chopsticks a day, without any form of disinfection.

Stories like this are the Chinese government’s worst nightmare. If Western consumers shun Chinese-made products because of quality concerns, China’s economic miracle could be in deep trouble. The cost — in terms of China’s social stability, not to mention inflation in Western countries accustomed to cheap Chinese imports — could be dramatic.

What’s worse, China’s fragmented manufacturers, lack of accountability, and absence of brands (and thus brand equity to protect), mean this will be a difficult, time-consuming problem to solve.

The Japanese overcame a similar problem by making W. Edwards Deming a national hero. I wonder who will lead China to the next level, where innovation and quality are more important than price.