China Announces Crackdown on False Ads
Great efforts will be made to supervise various advertisements and serious offenders will be prosecuted, according to a meeting attended Tuesday by 11 government departments including the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Information Industry, Ministry of Health and State Food and Drug Administration, among others."
This is a rather interesting and unexpected development.
China was just recently accused of allowing real fur, from dogs, cats, and other animals, to be labeled as "fake fur". In order to sell it to Macy's and in particular found in the clothing line of Sean "Diddy" Coombs. From the press release of the Humane Society of the United States about China's fake fur:
"The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) released the results of a mass spectrometry test today conducted on a Sean John Hooded Snorkel Jacket sold on Macys.com that was originally advertised as having an "imitation rabbit fur collar" and materials identified as "faux fur."The jacket, part of a clothing line by Sean "Diddy" Combs, was labeled as containing "raccoon" fur, but has now been found to be fur from a canine species known as "raccoon dog." Macy's informed The HSUS that the company has pulled the mislabeled Sean John garments from its department stores and online shop. The group is urging all retailers to follow the lead of Macy's."
From the BBC on the China fake fur story:
"NY store drops 'faux fur' jackets. A New York department store has said it is pulling two models of hooded jackets from its shelves after claims the "faux fur" linings were made from dog fur. A US animal protection organisation said the hooded jackets at Macy's were lined with raccoon dog. Raccoon dogs, which are not kept as pets, are bred in large numbers as their fur is like that of the raccoon. Macy's said it was removing the items to comply with its policy against selling any dog or cat fur. A spokesman said that all suppliers were aware of this policy." (my emphasis.)
How difficult is it, do you suppose, to actually sell fake fur as real fake fur? Doesn't it take a special skill in self deception, at the very least, to sell real fur as real fake fur? Wouldn't it suggest a difficulty with the concept "imitation" or "faux"? It is hard to believe that an entire country would have difficulty discerning between the concepts "imitation" and "real". Until one realizes that the particular nation has been engaged in self deception for at least 50 years.
It will therefore not come as surprise to anyone that China also ranks in the bottom five of countries when it comes to protecting intellectual property, according to a recent International Chamber of Commerce survey.
Dan Harris, over at the China Law Blog, disagrees that there is anything to the claim that China is culturally hooked on self-deception and claims:
"This survey is further proof of what I am always saying about how China's failure to provide high levels of IP protection is economically, not culturally based. IP protection will continue improving in China as its economy continues to grow and as Chinese companies start demanding protection for their own IP."
Look if you cannot tell that real fur is not real fake fur, you have a serious conceptual problem. In an intellectual tradition that sees no special linkage between the worth of autonomy and negative rights, this conceptual problem is easy to understand. It is not something that you can "grow out of".
