Opinion / Zou Hanru
A fake story with real moral value
By Zou Hanru (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-05-12 06:23
As he held a photograph of a red Ferrari two weeks ago, EU Commissioner
for Justice, Freedom and Security Franco Frattini screamed: "Look at this
car. Of this model, Ferrari has produced only six cars. This is the
seventh one, produced in China."
The footage of the media conference at the European Union Commission
headquarters in Brussels was flashed across the world, making us wonder
whether we should celebrate the deftness and technical brilliance of our
Chinese brethren for matching the best in the world or hang our heads in
shame for having cheated a company and violated intellectual property
rights.
The media conference was held to propose punitive action against certain
counterfeiters, irrespective of which country they are from. But the
focus shifted to China, especially when Frattini said he was "struggling
to curb illegal imports of goods" such as pirated CDs, DVDs and drugs all
made in China which he said posed a danger to consumers and to legitimate
businesses.
It sure is good to be in the news. But it certainly is best to be a
headline-maker in positive stories. And we definitely can afford to stay
away from such damaging ones.
The commission has proposed a minimum four-year jail sentence for
counterfeiters to strengthen EU laws against piracy. The proposal, a
first for the EU, follows a court ruling last year that empowered the
commission to draft penalties to enforce EU policies.
Not many EU governments will back the move because it allows the EU's
executive the right to impose jail sentences the right enjoyed
exclusively by a sovereign government. But that is a different matter
altogether.
Fake products are found and produced in many countries, including
developed ones. From mobile phone handsets to digital cameras, from Apple
iPods to BlackBerry clone RedBerry, from branded shoes and garments to
PCs, Thinkpads and Notebooks, from perfumes to medicines, you name it and
the world has it.
Presently, attention seems to be placed on China. Honestly, the problem
is very serious in this country. But China's alleged status as "the
world's plant of manufacturing" undoubtedly has contributed to the
aggravation of the impression. However, it is not meaningful for us to
argue how much that impression has been exaggerated. We should reflect on
our own problem why so many of our nationals are negligent about
intellectual property rights.
There's no good justification for buying or wearing fakes. The only
possible excuse could be that some people believe they deserve the
perception of owning "luxury" products without, at times, having to pay
astronomical amounts to buy the real thing. They are driven by a sense of
vanity. As long as vanity rules people's minds, there will be those to
further that sense by providing them with fakes.
But again, as long as fakes are available in the market, there will be
buyers. It's a vicious circle and the debate can go on. But I don't want
to enter such discussions. All I want to say is that fakes are giving
China a bad name, something that it can certainly do without.
The developed world is already wary of China's meteoric rise. It accuses
us of undervaluing our goods and dumping them into other countries'
markets. It imposes unjustifiable fines on "made-in-China" products. It
wants to save its domestic markets, but wants us to open ours fully. We
are charged with wreaking havoc on the environment. In fact, we are made
the scapegoat for every possible wrong that could occur in this world.
The added burden of having to clear ourselves of the counterfeit
accusations won't make our case any better. That many of the fakes'
buyers are from the developed world is another story with maybe another
moral.
But the moral of our story is simple: Help China by not making and buying
fakes.
Email: zouhr@chinadaily.com.cn
(China Daily 05/12/2006 page4)
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