The Great Mall of China

Two US Senators warn China for counterfeiting parts that wind up in US military equipment and accused them of openly marketing them.

Two key US senators angrily pressed China on Monday to crack down on firms blamed for counterfeit electronics that end up in US military hardware, warning such components could harm US national security.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin, a Democrat, accused Beijing of tolerating “a brazenly open market” in the city of Shenzhen in Guangdong province, which he described as the epicenter of the illicit trade. …

Senator John McCain, the top Republican on Levin’s committee, noted that counterfeit electronics — used parts made to look new and sold as new — had turned up at the US Missile Defense Agency, in a submarine-hunting helicopter, and in a military cargo jet.

“We can’t tolerate the risk of a ballistic missile interceptor failing to hit its target, a helicopter pilot unable to fire his missiles or any other mission failure because of a counterfeit part,” he said at the press conference.

But the Senators should not have been surprised. If they had bothered to surf the Internet the Senators would have discovered that China has entire malls devoted to fake products. You can eat at Mcdnoald’s or at Pizza Huh and after buying an armload of bogus electronics meant for ballistic missile interceptors, stop for a coffee at Bucksstars. Then you can get into your fake Rolls Royce — after the Read More.