A Thai colleague gave me a gift, a blue umbrella she bought in Japan. She told me it was high-quality Japanese product. Yes, it was well-made with nice purple cloth cover and stainless-steel handle.
She further told me that she bought three umbrellas because she trusted the "Made in Japan" tag. But it was actually "Made in China". as I discovered later from the trademark.
My colleague is not alone. In September, another friend, a girl from Bangladesh gave me a birthday gift, a soft white scarf with red flower pattern _ a design typical of her country. She told me she spent a lot of time finding a unique gift for me. I surely believe her sincerity though again, I knew it was "Made in China" the moment I saw it.
These incidents reminded me of comment from my friend, a Chinese Filipino. He said the whole Asia was kind of "China" culturally or geographically in history. So it's difficult to avoid "Made in China" in this part of the globe. The words you speak may derive from Chinese, like such as guai tiao and kongfu; or when you sing, you may be following Deng Lijun or Andy Liu; and when you eat, it may be spring rolls; let alone what you will encounter while out shopping.
Of course, cultural or geographical ties in our history can be viewed as a natural and lasting connection. But it's different when it comes to ties that stem from mere "products" or say, money.
The less-privileged in most countries are enjoying cheap Chinese products although there are constant complaints about their poor quality. Transnational companies are taking advantage of China's low labour wages and eager to make the country their prime production base or even a research hub, but many hesitate when it comes to identifying their products as "Made in China".
Obviously, fast economic development is not enough. Fortunately, the Chinese government has finally noticed this weakness after three decades of ignorance. At the National People's Congress earlier this year, Beijing launched an ambitious plan to promote Chinese culture. Its the first time culture gained top priority, ahead of economics.
But doubts remain. While China has successfully promoted itself from an impoverished backwater to the world's second largest economy in just three decades, how long will it take for the country to be accepted as a respectable cultural entity? China's economic success is based on aggressive entrepreneurship development, but it needs to do a lot more to promote culture _ always a subtle and delicate issue.
The problem is it must be finding very difficult to switch its focus from economic to some other issue. People's mind is not machine. So while we believe the "Made in China" tag will continue to spread worldwide, it is a long way to go before we see a culturally-powerful China.
However, luckily, a step is being taken.
Xiangyang Tang is a reporter from Beijing, China, on the FK exchange programme.