Today Coleman announced today it donated 1,000 tents for aid to people displaced by the massive May 12 earthquake in Sichuan Province, China.Also today, SNEWS, an outdoor industry newsletter, announced pretty much every other tent manufacturer is donating its tents too, whether they like it or not. SNEWS says the Chinese government seized control of all Chinese-owned tent factories and existing inventory throughout the country as part of the disaster relief effort for the earthquake-ravaged region of central China near Chengdu. Textile factories that supply tent fabrics have also been seized. In all factories, military personnel are stationed on the factory floor to ensure that for at least the next 30 days, and perhaps as many as 45 days, all tent production coming off the factory floors is designated for the earthquake relief efforts. Fair enough. The latest reports out of China have indicate 3 million people have lost their homes. Almost all U.S. tent brands (and everything else) are manufactured in China, including Mountain Hardwear, Coleman, Eureka, Marmot, MSR, GoLite, Kelty, The North Face, and Slumberjack. It's unclear how this will change tent availability and price in the United States, but hey, who cares? You have a home.
3 comments:
Yep. Agreed.
Really? You're OK with that? The government just walking in at seizing all of a company's inventory? Even thought it is for a humanitarian cause, this makes me shiver. It does not surprise me considering that what was done here is taught in Communism 101 and the Chinese government is, gasp, communist, but it does make me cringe (to say the least).
Question: Would you have felt the same way had the US government simply seized all of the FEMA trailers they needed for Katrina?
Yes, I would have.
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