Ted Fishman writes in USA Today:

I often speak to groups about China. Inevitably, someone asks about the immorality of Chinese culture and how it breeds cheats. I recoil. My personal experience is that Chinese people are as ethical as any. And the Chinese crave nothing more than a social environment that engenders trust. But so far, the demands of the rest of the world, and the internal structures in China — where the economic powers-that-be are often also those charged with regulating the economy — block nearly all demands to clean up the country's act.

Change will come only when China's lax enforcement brings a dire economic cost. So far, it seems the opposite is true. Over the past year, China exported nearly $1 trillion worth of goods to the rest of the world. So, then, how can change come? From the outside.

First, consumers and regulators must insist that businesses that import from China maintain high standards by increasing their quality controls and inspection. Quickly.

The case of the toy trains shows that any product can be made deadly if manufacturers cut corners. Should the corporate response be too weak, we must accept the public responsibility to step up official inspections and tax the goods coming in to pay for it.

Business fears that closer scrutiny of imports will add too much cost. Another scenario is that it will create a culture of compliance inside China, where the companies that are held to account by their international customers insist the government make their competitors adhere to the same.

China's low-cost advantages could in the end help the country become the preferred exporter of goods that require the closest inspection. After all, what other country can deploy more inspectors and at lower cost?

Recall that for a thousand years, China was the source of nearly all the world's finest products and luxuries. It is capable practically and culturally of enforcing the highest standards, so long as we are, too.

To read more:

http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2007/08/hidden-culprit-.html?csp=34