Unease ripples through Hong Kong's toymakers
HONG KONG -- Mattel's recall announcement on Tuesday hit one of this city's best-known tycoons: billionaire Francis Choi, Hong Kong's "Toy King," who owns the factories that manufactured thousands of die-cast toy cars that were recalled after being found to contain excessive levels of toxic lead.
Mattel isn't blaming Choi's Early Light Industrial Co.. The toy giant says a Chinese subcontractor was responsible for violating Mattel rules and substituting cheaper, lead-contaminated paint for the approved paint Early Light had supplied.
Last weekend, entrepreneur Cheung Shu-hung, co-owner of another Hong Kong-registered company, killed himself after Mattel earlier recalled 967,000 lead-tainted preschool toys manufactured by his firm.
Early Light and other Hong Kong toy companies did not return calls for comment Thursday. But Lawrence Yau, spokesman for the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, said: "We are quite worried at the moment. We are surprised that Hong Kong manufacturers are involved. They have quite a good track record. They pay great attention to product quality and safety. They are now looking at their own supply chains."
The Federation of Hong Kong Industries issued a statement Thursday, admitting that recent recalls have "caused significant damage to the image and reputation of the Hong Kong toy industry."
But it isn't just toys. In recent months, safety recalls have snagged Chinese-made pet-food ingredients, seafood and tires. "We are very, very nervous," says Federation Chairman Clement Chen, a textile manufacturer. "Today, we are talking about toys. We don't know what we will be talking about tomorrow."
Hong Kong, which is now an autonomous Chinese region, has lashed its economic future to mainland China's. Starting in the 1980s, Hong Kong manufacturers packed up and moved their factories across the border to the mainland, seeking to take advantage of boundless supplies of cheap labor.
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